Clearing of 90,000 MTs of waste near river
*EC worth Rs 25 lakh recovered
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 18: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Municipal Council, Poonch has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that short-listing of bidders and technical evaluation for managing 90,000 metric tons of waste will be done in a week’s time and within two weeks the tender process will be cleared for work allotment.
The matter was listed for hearing before the Principal Bench of NGT headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Srivastava. Expert Member of NGT Dr Senthil Veil was also present during the hearing. Advocate Itisha Awasthi who is the counsel for the petitioner Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat was also present during the hearing along with CEO Municipal Council Poonch Khalil Ahmad Banday and Additional District Magistrate -ADM Tahir Mustaffa Malik.
The CEO, MC Poonch who appeared virtually through video conferencing submitted before the NGT that 90,000 MT of legacy waste was lying on the banks of Poonch river near Sher e Kashmir Bridge. He further submitted that a site has been selected for the bio-mining facility which is located at a distance of about 130 metres from the bank of the river. As per the order of the NGT the CEO Municipal Council Poonch couldn’t reveal whether the area falls under the flood plain of Poonch river or not ?
“CEO MC Poonch could not point out if the said site falls within the flood plain of the river. Hence, he is directed to ascertain this fact on the basis of old flood records of that area and point out if the same falls within the active flood plain/flood plain of the river. He is also directed to file an affidavit disclosing the progress in this regard and the status of the site being in the flood plain of the river within four weeks ” reads the order passed by National Green Tribunal.
“The technical evaluation is in progress which will be completed within a period of one week and the L1 will be decided within two weeks and the work will be awarded ” the CEO told NGTs Principal Bench
The NGT directed the CEO MC Poonch to file an affidavit disclosing the progress in this regard and the status of the site being in the flood plain of the river within four weeks.
The counsel for UT of J&K in National Green Tribunal-NGT Advocate Gautam Singh appearing for the J&K Pollution Control Committee-JKPCC also submitted that as against the Environmental Compensation-EC amount of Rs 1,61,00,000, the amount of Rs 25 lakhs has been recovered.
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