The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday rapped the Haryana government for not taking “meaningful action” against restaurants and roadside eateries at Murthal violating environmental norms and said it was taking the matter lightly.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the Chief Secretary of Haryana to take suitable remedial measures, including action against the erring officers for such negligent behaviour.
“We find that beyond saying that action will be taken by the State of Haryana in terms of Standard Operating Procedure issued by the CPCB, there is no mention of compliance status.
“The authorities appear to have taken the matter lightly treating the filing of a status report to be a formality. The Tribunal expected meaningful action on the ground level which has not been taken in spite of long time available after the last hearing and finalisation of the SOP by the CPCB long back,” the bench said.
The tribunal asked chief secretary to file meaningful compliance report before the next date by e-mail.
The matter is listed for further consideration on October 22.
The tribunal had earlier directed authorities to expedite setting up of a solid waste treatment plant for management of garbage generated by eateries and asked why a decentralised treatment plant has not been set up by the ''dhabas'' in the area.
Perusing a report by the state pollution control board, the tribunal had noted that the integrated solid waste management project is expected to be completed by December 31, 2020.
Observing that the report shows a "sorry state of affairs", the bench had said the units which are emitting less than 10 KLD effluent should be required to install modular STPs to avoid their transportation elsewhere.
The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by Haryana resident Abhay Dahiya and others against illegal dumping and burning of garbage, and discharge of untreated water by various establishments, including restaurants on G T Road, Murthal in Sonepat district.
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