NGT levies Rs 200 Cr compensation on Nagaland

•    Amount levied for failure to scientifically manage liquid and solid waste 
•    Directs amount to be used for waste treatment plants  

Morung Express News
Dimapur | November 27 

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), on November 24, levied compensation of Rs 200 crores on Nagaland for its failure to scientifically manage liquid and solid waste, in violation of mandate of law, particularly judgments of the Supreme Court and the Tribunal.

The compensation, as per the order issued by the NGT, was levied on “polluter pays” principle. The amount may be kept in a ‘ringfenced account’ to be operated as per directions of the Chief Secretary only for waste management in the State.

The ‘separate’ account should be utilised for setting up solid waste processing facilities, remediation of legacy waste and setting up of STPs (Sewage Treatment Plant) and FSTPs (Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant), added the order issued by the NGT Principal Bench, New Delhi headed by the Tribunal’s Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.  

The Bench was hearing “Compliance of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and other environmental issues” as per the Supreme Court directives with respect to State of Nagaland. The Nagaland Chief Secretary along with five senior officials attended the hearing.

As a follow-up, the Bench directed the Nagaland Government, through the Chief Secretary to file six monthly progress reports with ‘verifiable progress’ with a copy to the Registrar General of NGT electronically. 

The report should be “preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF. Copies thereof may be furnished to the NMCG, MoUD and CPCB and also be placed on the website of the State Government,” it added. 

On the report being filed with the Registrar General of this Tribunal, the same may be placed before the Bench, if found necessary, it added. “If any grievance survives, it will be open to the aggrieved parties to take further remedies as per law.”

Gap in waste management 
Meanwhile, as per the November 24 order, the State has filed a compliance status on November 22, showing Nagaland’s waste generation at 282.43 tonnes per day (TPD). Out of this, 102 tonnes were processed per day, leading to gap in generation and processing of 180.43 TPD. 

The State also had a legacy waste of 1.53 lakh tonnes while the status of biomining read: “No remediation is taken place.” (See Table)

In terms of liquid waste, the status report noted that the total sewage generation in the State was 91.2 million litres per day (MLD). However, the utilisation of treatment capacity was shown to be ‘nil’ resulting in gap of same amount (91.2 MLD). 

Accordingly, the quantum of compensation was based on its earlier order which fixed it at @ Rs 2 crore per MLD for liquid waste and Rs 300 per MT for solid waste.

While the compliance status data itself was not encouraging, the Bench also expressed doubt over the veracity of the data. 

“Correctness of above data is open to doubt as the Chief Secretary also agrees and the same needs due verification on the ground. The data is incomplete as quantity of sewage generated is not mentioned,” it observed.

“Cost of the projects is shown to be more than Rs 10 crore per MLD which is too towards higher side having regard to NMCG assessment of such cost being Rs 2 crore per MLD (excluding cost of conveyance system) as mentioned in various orders of the Tribunal which can be reduced if decentralised or traditional systems are installed,” it added. 

Due to “unsatisfactory state of affairs,” the Bench said: “We have pointed out that there is need for total change at policy and execution level after study of success stories elsewhere and in the light of several orders of the Tribunal dealing with the issue in respect of other States.”

Accordingly, there has to a dedicated cell in the office of the Chief Secretary to deal with such serious issues which does not appear to be there, it said. It is necessary to ensure that wet solid waste is kept separate from dry waste at all levels, collection, transportation or handling which can inter alia be resource for compost, it added. 

The Bench also called for handling dry waste separately by setting up Material Recovery Facility for further recycling or reuse.  Similarly, the sewage after necessary treatment can be utilised for agriculture or other non-potable purposes. The decentralised technology or traditional technologies may also be explored, it added. 

Giving various observations and approaches for both solid and liquid management, the Bench further opined that there is need for paradigm shift in handling of the situation. To this end, it recommended setting up a centralised single window mechanism for planning, capacity building and monitoring of waste management at the State level.

Local authorities have to do their duty and stocktaking at the district levels may continue but subject to supervision and control of such mechanism, it said.

The Bench added that it should be headed by an officer of the rank of Additional Chief Secretary with representation from concerned departments – Urban Development, Rural Development, Environment and Forest, Agriculture, Water Resources, Fisheries and Industries. 

Way forward 
In the ‘light of interaction’ on November 24 with the Chief Secretary, the Bench also expressed hope that the State of Nagaland will take further measures in the matter by innovative approach and stringent monitoring, ensuring that gaps in solid and liquid waste generation and treatment are bridged at the earliest, shortening the proposed timelines, adopting alternative/interim measures to the extent and wherever found viable. 

Restoration plans need to be executed at the earliest simultaneously in all districts/cities/towns/villages in a time bound manner without further delay. Compliance to be ensured by Chief Secretary, it directed. 

It will also be open to the State to plan raising of requisite funds from generators/contributors of waste or by any other legal means, it added. 

The issues of solid as well as liquid waste management are being monitored by the NGT  as per orders of the Supreme Court’s order dated 02.09.2014 with regard to solid waste management and order dated 22.02.2017 with regard to liquid waste. 

The hearing, accordingly, is being conducted to monitor the compliance of States and Union Territories with regard to the aforesaid orders.

Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/ngt-levies-rs-200-cr-compensation-on-nagaland