Court Commissioner takes stock of solid waste management in Ludhiana

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) has often drawn flak for management of garbage in the city. Putting the civic body on its toes, Court Commissioner Bhanwar Pal Singh Jadon, an advocate appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), is in the city to inspect arrangements made by the civic body for solid waste management in Ludhiana.

In a petition filed by engineer Kapil Arora and Kuldeep Singh Khaira regarding poor condition of solid waste management in the city, the NGT had appointed Court Commissioner Bhanwar Pal Singh Jadon to verify factual condition of Ludhiana.

On his two-day visit, Bhanwar Pal inspected over 20 places around the city to assess the waste management system. The Court Commissioner has been inspecting the sites since yesterday and visited Model Town Extension, Gill village pond, Bachan Singh Marg, GT Road, Wholesale Vegetable Market, Jamalpur, Suffian Chowk, EWS flats in Giaspura, etc, and has completed the inspection today.

Bhanwar Pal will submit his report before one week of the next hearing, which will prove crucial for the next course of action.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday at the Model Town Extension site, a portion of a green belt area was on fire and it was littered with garbage. Biomedical waste was found at the static compactor site near Lakkar Bridge while garbage was burning on 200-ft road in the GLADA area.

The petitioner, Kapil Arora, said the Joint Committee comprising the Ludhiana DC, MC and PPCB had submitted one report, claiming that all impugned sites had been cleared and no garbage was being dumped on them.

“To this, we had filed our objections and contested for action against the DC, MC and other members of the committee for submitting a false report before the NGT. Therefore, to verify the actual and factual condition of sites, the NGT appointed the Court Commissioner to visit the locations and submit the report before one week of the next hearing,” he said.

Khaira said the Court Commissioner found huge heaps of garbage and demolition waste at various locations. The condition of Model Town Extension, Gill village pond, Bachan Singh Marg, plot on GT Road and Vegetable Market was worst.

“The condition of garbage adjoining the EWS flats was pathetic and we informed the Court Commissioner that huge quantity of waste is buried there, which is wrong and causing major damage to the environment. During a visit to Bachan Singh Marg, the Court Commissioner asked about the dumped garbage and demolition waste, but GLADA officials had no answer. He also pointed out the working of the PPCB as the regulatory authority too had failed to keep a check on the situation in the city,” Khaira said.

Arora said residents from Model Town Extension as well as Bahadur Ke Road told the Court Commissioner that they were living in miserable conditions and their family members were suffering from various problems due to garbage being dumped adjoining to their houses. They said they could not allow their children to play on terrace or in streets due to problem of flies and mosquitoes.

Members of the Punjab Action Committee had filed an application with the NGT in 2023, highlighting violations at 23 locations regarding handling of solid waste in the city. The applicant alleged that garbage was still present in large quantities and had been buried at various sites after which the tribunal appointed the Court Commissioner to know about the ground reality.

The next hearing is scheduled for December 9.