NGT issues notice to Faridabad civic body

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, February 13

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the civic authorities in connection with its move to set up a waste processing plant and cutting down 500 trees without permission on the land of Partapgarh village in the district.

The notice comes in response to a petition filed by a resident, who alleged that the land belonged to the Forest and Health Departments and had not been transferred for the project of landfill or waste processing centre for starting the work by the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF). The next date of hearing is April 2, it is learnt.

According to the petition, the land situated at a village in Partapgarh here belongs to the Forest and Health Departments and the said land has not been transferred to the MCF. The MCF has already taken up the work of setting up a waste processing plant by removing as many as 500 trees. It is claimed that when the matter was brought to the notice of the Forest Department, a notice board was installed by the latter claiming that the land belonged to it.

“Having regard to the nature of grievance raised in the application, we also deem it proper to form a joint committee comprising a representative of the Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Member Secretary, State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Regional Officer, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and District Magistrate (DC), Faridabad. The DC will act as a nodal agency for coordination and compliance,” says the order of the NGT passed on February 5.

According to the order, the joint committee will carry out the site inspection, ascertain the correct position relating to the nature of land from the revenue record and also ascertain truthfulness of the allegations made in the original application and file factual and action-taken report before the tribunal at least one week ahead of the next date of hearing through e-mail. The next date of hearing in this connection is April 2.

The MCF has been in the process of setting up waste processing plants at four spots, including Partapgarh, Pali, Mujeri and Riwajpur villages, after a ban on dumping waste at the traditional site of Bandhwari by the NGT.

Padam Bhushan, Executive Engineer, MCF, said while the notice was yet to be received, the civic body would adhere to the instructions or the norms connected with the project.

Land not transferred to MCF

• According to the petition, the land situated at a village in Partapgarh belongs to the Forest and Health Departments and has not been transferred to the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF)
• The MCF has already taken up the work of setting up a waste processing plant by removing as many as 500 trees
• It is claimed that when the matter was brought to the notice of the Forest Department, a notice board was installed by the latter claiming that the land belonged to it

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