Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) Chairman Bhure Lal yesterday pulled up officials of Panipat and Sonepat districts after he found norms being violated at various places. He found solid waste and construction waste on the roadside in Sector 25 during his visit to the “Textile City” and several lapses in the construction of NH-44 by the NHAI and the management of solid waste in HSIIDC in Sonepat. He had reached Panipat via Ghaziabad, Bulandshehar, Merrut and Kairana in Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the pollution and garbage management and to check other parameters responsible for pollution in the national capital region (NCR). He visited the garbage dumping site in Nimbri village on Panipat-Sanoli road in Sectors 25 and 29. Sushil Kumar, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Panipat (MCP); Kamaljeet Singh, Regional Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) along with his team; Jagmal Singh, XEn, HSVP, and other officers were present during his visit. He pulled up the officers while reaching Nimbri dumping yard and directed officers to send the garbage at a solid waste management plant as soon as possible. Pulling up the MCP officials, the Chairman directed them to clean the sites and shift garbage dumping yards from the open area of Sector 25. He also directed them to provide treated water to industrialists again. He also got annoyed at seeing black smoke emitting from the chimney of an industrial unit here and directed the HSPCB member secretary to initiate action against the industry. Besides, the Chairman also visited various areas in Sonepat and found several anomalies in the management of solid waste in the HSIIDC industrial area and norms being violated at construction sites in Sonepat area. He also found several lapses in the widening of the NH-44 from Delhi to Panipat. S Narayanan, Member Secretary, HSPCB said: “We will comply with the directions issued. Notices will be served to the industrial unit in Panipat and the NHAI for violating norms.”

Solid waste management rules, 2016

Waste management and diligent planning becomes critical for regulation of humongous solid waste being generated every day. With growing urbanization and rise of smart cities on the offing the issue of solid waste management becomes even more imperative. The fact that the solid waste management rules have been revised after 16 years makes it a hot topic from the environment context and important for CSE Mains 2017.

Current Context:

• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) recently notified the new Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016. These will replace the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, which have been in place for the past 16 years.
• These rules are the sixth category of waste management rules brought out by the ministry, as it has earlier notified plastic, e-waste, biomedical, hazardous and construction and demolition waste management rules.

Why is there a dire need for Solid Waste Management?

• Many reports suggest that 62 million tons of waste is generated annually in the country at present, out of which 5.6 million tonnes is plastic waste, 0.17 million tonnes is biomedical waste, hazardous waste generation is 7.90 million tonnes per annum and 15 lakh tonne is e-waste.
• The per capita waste generation in Indian cities ranges from 200 grams to 600 grams per day.
• The fact that 43 million TPA is collected, 11.9 million is treated and 31 million is dumped in landfill sites, which means that only about 75-80% of the municipal waste gets collected and only 22-28 % of this waste is processed and treated.
• Waste generation will most likely to increase from 62 million tonnes to about165 million tonnes in 2030.

Solid Waste Management Rules 2016:

• These rules replace the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, are now applicable beyond municipal areas and have included urban agglomerations, census towns, notified industrial townships etc.
• They focus on segregation of waste at source, responsibility on the manufacturer to dispose of sanitary and packaging wastes, user fees for collection, disposal and processing from the bulk generator.
• It has also been advised that the bio-degradable waste should be processed, treated and disposed of through composting or bio-methanation within the premises as far as possible and the residual waste shall be given to the waste collectors or agency as directed by the local authority.
• The rules promote the use of compost, conversion of waste into energy, revision of parameters for landfills location and capacity.
• The government has also constituted a Central Monitoring Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoEF&CC to monitor the overall implementation of the rules.
• The Rules for the Safe Treatment of Legacy Waste prescribe bio-remediation and bio-mining in all open dumpsites and existing operational dumpsites in India.

Apart from this, Article 51 A (g) of the Constitution of India makes it a fundamental duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.

Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA):

• EPCA was constituted with the objective of ‘protecting and improving’ the quality of the environment and ‘controlling environmental pollution’ in the National Capital Region. The EPCA also assists the apex court in various environment-related matters in the region.
• EPCA is Supreme Court mandated body tasked with taking various measures to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region. It was notified in 1998 by Environment Ministry under Environment Protection Act, 1986.
   

Composition:

• Besides the chairman, the EPCA has 14 members, some of whom are the environment secretary of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council, transport commissioner of the NCT, the commissioners of various municipal corporations of Delhi and professors at IIT Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Functions:

• To protect and improve quality of environment and prevent and control environmental pollution in National Capital Region.
• To enforce Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in NCR as per the pollution levels.