NGT seeks report on alleged unscientific capping at Bhalswa landfill site

The National Green Tribunal has directed a committee to submit a report on Bhalswa landfill site after a plea claimed unscientific capping there. The plea also alleged that bio-mining and bio-remediation are not being done as per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

A bench headed by National Green Tribunal chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the committee comprising an official from the Central Pollution Control Board and Dr G K Pandey, former expert member of the tribunal, to submit the report in two months. "The CPCB will be the nodal agency for the purpose. The Committee may interact with the municipal corporation concerned or other authorities and evaluate the proposed action and furnish a report within two months by email," the bench said.

The matter is listed for next hearing on July 17. Landfill capping is a containment technology that forms a barrier between the contaminated media and the surface, thereby shielding humans and the environment from the harmful effects of its contents and perhaps limiting the migration of the contents.

The tribunal's order came on a plea filed by NGO Centre for Wildlife and Environment Litigation alleging unscientific capping process of Bhalswa Landfill site, Delhi in violation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The plea, filed through advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, said that "scientific capping" of the Bhalswa landfill was necessary to ensure the safety of the area and its residents living around it.