NGT bans burning of waste in Delhi NCR
The green tribunal has asked authorities to levy a fine of Rs5,000 on anyone found burning such material in the open
New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday ordered a complete ban on burning of any kind of garbage, leaves, plastic waste and rubber in the open, in line with a series of orders to control air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).
Burning of garbage and other material like plastic is responsible for nearly 30% of the air pollution in the capital and its suburbs, the NGT said. It also directed authorities to levy a fine of ₹ 5,000 on anyone found burning such material in the open.
“Burning trash in the open area produces many pollutants…. These are dimensions of the serious environmental issues that we are concerned with," said an NGT bench headed by its chairperson Swatanter Kumar.
The green tribunal has in recent weeks and months banned over 15-year-old petrol vehicles and over 10-year-old diesel vehicles from plying on Delhi-NCR roads. Earlier this month, it issued detailed guidelines to tackle air pollution from construction activity in the Delhi-NCR area. The latest order came on an application by a person identified as Vardhaman Kaushik.
Environmental lawyer Sanjay Upadhyay, who represented Kaushik, said: “NGT’s order is quite complete and forms a comprehensive mechanism to deal with air pollution from burning of waste. It also fixes responsibility on violators and authorities who have to take action. Now we only hope that it is implemented in letter and spirit."
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