Amidst the ongoing public interests litigations, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has mandated its Registry to capture the Daddu Majra garbage dump still site’s snapshot instantly.
The Chief Justice Sheel Nagu along with Justice Sudhir Singh asked the registry to supplement the existing footage with updated stills capturing the waste’s condition at the site. The case, which was filed in 2016 and 2021, has been pending for long due to the threat the sitting landfill posed to the environment and the health of the population of more than 50,000 people living in the vicinity.
When the matter was listed for a hearing on January 19, 2023, again the petitioners produced drone shots and tried addressing the other discrepancies in the assertions made by the Municipal Corporation regarding the dominance of the MCD over the waste management at the site. MC’s representative Advocate Gaurav Mohunta, appearing on behalf of the MC, stated that the corporation has not been permitting any new unprocessed waste to be added to the dump and it was being cleared at a particular pace. He stated that almost 2.25 lakh metric tonnes of waste had gotten piled, but that was expected to be removed by May this year.
Petitioner-advocate Amit Sharma, however, showed drone footage seeking to show leachate flowing around and even on the ‘restored’ site dump, which was purportedly removed in 2022. Sharma further remarked that the MC’s allegation that no newer waste has been added since 2018 is countered by the fact that a third garbage mound has emerged. Further discrepancies were also detected in the latest affidavit filed by the MC, which reportedly contained waste of 1.75 lakh tonnes, whereas later UT counsel changed the figure to 2.25 lakh tonnes.
Sharma similarly claimed that the MC provided false affidavits, including a DPR with more than 150 handwritten changes that he said were intended to alter financial estimates worth crores. He said that these irregularities as well as the conspiracy to transfer the case to NGT on multiple occasions were intended to conceal the truth from the court and impede the course of justice.
Chandigarh’ Growing Concern: The Garbage Dumping Site at Daddu Majra
The garbage dumping site in Daddumajra, Chandigarh has become one of the major hotspots of pollution for the residents of the area. Waste generated from different parts of the city is dumped on this site which has become one of the biggest waste disposal sites of Chandigarh, located on the borders of the city. Its impact on the environment is being questioned due to the massive amount of solid waste it has accumulated.
Environmental Consequences
The quantity of garbage that is disposed of at the Daddu Majra location has significantly increased over time and contributed to pollution of the environment. The region has now turned into a pollution hotspot for air, water and soil as a result of the growth of non-degradable products, plastic waste, and waste that has been left untreated from various areas of the city. Waste composed of organic materials and organic matters when decomposed emits toxic gases such as methane which add to the greenhouse effect on the planet.
Few measures by Chandigarh MC to address the issue
- The escalating concerns at the Daddumajra dumping site have become apparent for the Chandigarh Administration. There have been several talks and plans over the years put on the table to help deal with the environmental issues that come with the site. Among them are:
- Recycle: For the recycling and suitable disposal of waste, an implementation of a waste segregation at the household level is to be put in place.
- Waste to energy projects: There have been some studies that look to turn waste into energy through the use of biogas plants or incineration.
- Waste management: The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has been developing a more comprehensive waste management scheme which encompasses enhanced collection, transport and disposal systems.
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