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NGT Fines Srinagar Municipality, Orders Action On 8 Ex-Commissioners
(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a ₹12.62 crore fine on the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) for unscientific waste dumping at the Achan Saidapora landfill site. The tribunal also directed legal proceedings against eight former SMC Commissioners for failing to enforce waste management regulations.
Hearing the case Raja Muzaffar Bhat v/s Union of India & Others on March 20, 2025, a three-member NGT bench found that unscientific waste disposal and leachate contamination had severely impacted nearby water bodies, violating the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
SMC Commissioner Dr. Owais Ahmad admitted that the city had accumulated 11.5 lakh metric tons of legacy waste at Achan, with bio-mining efforts expected to take at least two years. The tribunal instructed him to submit a written commitment within ten days to clear the waste within the specified timeframe.
The J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) reported that SMC had breached waste management norms for 1,800 days (April 1, 2020 – March 10, 2025), leading to penalties under the“Polluter Pays Principle-PPP legal action is also being finalized against former SMC Commissioners, including Dr. Shafqat Khan, Reyaz Ahmad Wani, Peerzada Hafizullah Shah, Mir Tariq Ali, Khurshid Ahmad Sanai, Gazanfar Ali, Athar Aamir Khan, and the current commissioner, Dr. Owais Ahmad, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
In response, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation-SMC has proposed a four-phase waste management plan, targeting full remediation of Achan landfill by March 2027.
Key measures include operationalizing a leachate treatment plant, bio-mining, expanding composting facilities, and setting up a 300 TPD Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) plant and a 459 TPD Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) facility.
Hearing the case Raja Muzaffar Bhat v/s Union of India & Others on March 20, 2025, a three-member NGT bench found that unscientific waste disposal and leachate contamination had severely impacted nearby water bodies, violating the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
SMC Commissioner Dr. Owais Ahmad admitted that the city had accumulated 11.5 lakh metric tons of legacy waste at Achan, with bio-mining efforts expected to take at least two years. The tribunal instructed him to submit a written commitment within ten days to clear the waste within the specified timeframe.
The J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) reported that SMC had breached waste management norms for 1,800 days (April 1, 2020 – March 10, 2025), leading to penalties under the“Polluter Pays Principle-PPP legal action is also being finalized against former SMC Commissioners, including Dr. Shafqat Khan, Reyaz Ahmad Wani, Peerzada Hafizullah Shah, Mir Tariq Ali, Khurshid Ahmad Sanai, Gazanfar Ali, Athar Aamir Khan, and the current commissioner, Dr. Owais Ahmad, under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
In response, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation-SMC has proposed a four-phase waste management plan, targeting full remediation of Achan landfill by March 2027.
Key measures include operationalizing a leachate treatment plant, bio-mining, expanding composting facilities, and setting up a 300 TPD Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) plant and a 459 TPD Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) facility.
The NGT has mandated monthly progress reports, quarterly reviews by the JKPCC, and the creation of a public dashboard to track the cleanup effort, marking a crucial step toward addressing Srinagar's waste crisis.
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