NGT fines Telangana Rs 3,800-cr for improper waste management

HYDERABAD: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) came down heavily on the Telangana government and levied a fine of Rs 3,800 crore for its failure to treat solid and liquid waste.

 The total environmental compensation to be paid by Telangana, according to the green tribunal bench, is Rs 3,648 crore for its failure to treat liquid waste or sewage, and Rs 177 crore for failure to scientifically manage solid waste. “The total compensation may be deposited by the State of Telangana in a separate ring-fenced account within two months, to be operated as per directions of the chief secretary and utilised for restoration measures. It will be open to the state to plan raising funds from generators/contributors to waste,” according to the NGT order.

It was also observed that there was 5.9 million tonnes of unremediated legacy waste in 141 ULBs, with more unprocessed waste being added on a daily basis to the tune of 2,446 tonnes per day (TPD). “We have also noted that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has capped 12 million tonnes of legacy waste at the Jawaharnagar dumpsite,” the NGT bench said, adding that the capping did not meet the Central

Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) standards.

Further, the NGT bench slammed the Telangana government, saying, “It is difficult to hold that the state has taken the Tribunal's directions seriously or even endeavoured to go by this mandate. Even after three years, neither there is adequate compliance nor the same has been projected in the immediate future. There is no accountability, no performance audit has been performed, and no entries in ACRs have been made. There is nothing to show that compensation has been recovered in terms of directions of the Tribunal.”

The NGT stated that the chief secretary would be responsible for compliance and directed him to file progress reports every six months. The tribunal directed the Chief Secretary to take several measures as part of future remedial action, including designating a Senior Nodal Officer at the rank of ACS to regularly assess progress, linking existing and upcoming STPs with industries and other bulk users for using treated sewage, remediation of legacy waste sites, use of reclaimed areas for setting up waste processing plants, and establishment of green belts or dense forests to mitigate the adverse impact of waste.

It also directed the state to deal with larger towns with populations exceeding one lakh, such as GHMC, Warangal, Nizamabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Ramagundam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Adilabad, Suryapet, Miryalaguda, Siddipet, and Jagtial, on a separate basis for sewage and solid waste management.

The tribunal has been monitoring waste compliance by states in accordance with Supreme Court orders issued in 2014 and 2017. The Chief Secretary filed a presentation with data on sewage and solid waste management on September 28, 2022. According to the data, there has been no significant progress in waste management since the Chief Secretary last appeared before the tribunal, according to the bench.