National Green Tribunal
Tribunal On Its Own Motion Re Monikhal vs State Of West Bengal Through Chief ... on 10 March, 2022
Item No. 02 Court No.1
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
EASTERN ZONE BENCH, KOLKATA
(Through Video Conferencing)
Original Application No.66/2021/EZ
Tribunal on its own Motion in
Re.: Monikhal Canal Applicant(s)
Versus
State of West Bengal & Ors. Respondent(s)
Date of hearing: 10.03.2022
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B. AMIT STHALEKAR, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE MR. SAIBAL DASGUPTA, EXPERT MEMBER
For Applicant(s) : Suo motu
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Soumitra Mukherjee, Advocate for R-5,
Mr. Sibojyoti Chakraborty, Advocate for State
Respondents,
Ms. Paushali Banerjee, Advocate for R-3,
Mr. Sibojyoti Chakraborty, Advocate for R-4,
Mr. Rajib Ray, Advocate for R-6,
Mr. Prithwish Basu, Advocate for R-7,
Mr. Indranil Biswas, Advocate, Advocate for R-8
ORDER
1. Mr. Sibojyoti Chakraborty, learned Counsel files vakalatnama on behalf of the State Respondents; same is taken on record.
2. Mr. Indranil Biswas, learned Counsel files vakalatnama on behalf of the Respondent No.8; same is taken on record.
3. One affidavit dated 27.01.2022 has been filed by Respondent No.8, Maheshtala Municipality; same is taken on record.
4. One affidavit dated 28.01.2022 has been filed by Respondent No.4, Kolkata Municipal Corporation; same is taken on record.
5. One affidavit dated 09.03.2022 has been filed by Respondent No.6, West Bengal Pollution Control Board; same is taken on record.
6. In the affidavit of Respondent No.8, the Present Status Action Plan has been given. Para 3 A to G of the same read as under:- 1
"3..........
Solid Waste Management A. Present Status Waste Collection
1. No of Households assorted in 35 wards as on date :142764
2. No of Households covered as on date : 36000
3. Quantity of generation of waste : 210 MT
4. No of Households covered by each waste lifter : 150-200 (Nirmal Bandhu)
5. No of waste lifters as on date : 180 Nos.
6. No of Households left over : 106764 Action Plan has been made after household survey in all the wards of the Municipality. Detail Plans has been drafted for waste lifting, road sweeping, drain cleaning. Action Plan has provision for enhancing the capacity for CPU (Central Processing Unit) and as well as MRF (Material Recovery Facility). A budgetary proposal has been sent to UD & MA Department considering various components like man-power, preparation of IEC material, procurement tri-cycle van, tripper car, procurement of man power, enhancement capacity of CPU (Central Processing Unit) and MRF (Material Recovery Facility). Be it also mentioned that the funds obtained from the fifteenth Finance Commission (Tied Fund on SWM) which will be available to the Municipality will also be used for implementing the Action Plan.
Procurement process will be taken up from April, 2022.
B. Segregation of Waste at Source Presently at 02 (Two) no. No of wards have been covered as pilot project. IEC (Information Education and Communication) project for segregation of waste at source in other wards (33 no.) will be taken up from April, 2022 and will continue up to August, 2022. On approval of budgetary proposals for manpower drive for segregation at source in all rest of 33 wards will be stared phase wise. It is expected that segregation of waste at source will be operations in full swing by coming financial year.
C. MRF (Material Recovery Facility) 2 Presently, there is Material Recovery Facility available under Mahestala Municipality having capacity for segregated waste disposal of 3.60 TPD (Ton per day).
D. CPU (Central Processing Unit) Presently, there is also Central Processing Unit available under Mahestala Municipality having capacity for or generation of manure and disposal of inert material at landfill site of 4.96 TPD.
It is expected that on approval off the proposed fund action for enhancement of the capacity of MRF & CPU will be done by March, 2023.
E. Composting of bio-mining degradable waste At present there is a facility for composting of bio-degradable waste having capacity of 150 Kg/month. The Proposed Action Plan also has component of enhancement of capacity, which is expected to 121 Tons/month.
F. Disposal of legacy waste through bio-mining Presently there is a legacy waste site under Mahestala Municipality. It has been assessed that Approximate 2,30,513 MT of weight of legacy waste have been accumulated there. KMDA has engaged M/s Greetech Environ Management Pvt. Ltd. for bio-mining activity, which has been started from 25.07.2021. It is expected that the bio- mining will be completed by August, 2022. Till date 4512 MT of legacy waste have been bio-mined. It is proposed that the land reclaimed by the bio-mining activities will be used for enhancement of CPU & MRF capacity for Solid Waste Management of Maheshtala Municipality.
G. Disposal of waste by bulk waste generator There are 04 (Four) no. of Housing Complex which may be treated as bulk waste generators which are as follows:-
1. Bengal Greenfield Housing Development Company Limited
2. Riverbank Development Pvt. Ltd.
3. Eden Real Estates Pvt. Ltd.
4. Pansari Developers Pvt. Ltd.3
Notices have been issued to the above named bulk waste generators to comply the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules by August, 2022. Till then the existing system of waste collection by municipality will continue."
7. Regarding Material Recovery Facility, we find that the Maheshtala Municipality has the capacity for segregated waste disposal of 3.60 TPD whereas the chart A shows the quantity of generation of waste to be 210 MT per day. This leads to a gap of almost 206 MT per day of untreated waste.
8. Mr. Indranil Biswas, learned Counsel for Respondent No.8 states that they do not have the resources to treat this waste which has to be done by the State Respondents and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Similar is the position regarding disposal of legacy waste through bio-mining where the capacity is stated to be 2,30,513 MT of which 4512 MT has been bio-mined. This is hardly 2% of the total legacy waste. It is stated that the bio-mining will be completed by August, 2022 which does not appear to be practical, since it has not been disclosed as to how many trammels and manpower the Municipality has. The affidavit also does not state what short term measures have been taken for disposal of Municipal Solid Waste.
9. In the affidavit of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, it has been stated that the Water Supply Department has already approached the School of Water Resources, IIT Kharagpur to undertake the feasibility study for improvement of the existing sludge handling system, its maintenance and its disposal for Garden Reach Water Treatment Plant. It is also stated that the IIT Kharagpur has submitted its proposal for technical assistance vide proposal dated 30.11.2021 (Annexure R-1 of the paper book). The Kolkata 4 Municipal Corporation has also given a work order to the IIT Kharagpur on 24.12.2021. It is stated that IIT Kharagpur has visited the site and stated that they will require about three months time approximately to complete the study.
10. It is also stated that the DPR cum Condition Assessment Report has also been submitted to the State Project Management Group (SPMG) on 22.04.2021 and the cost of DPR is Rs. 200.203 crores and main items considered are as under:-
A. Augmentation of existing STP (ASP type) to 40 MLD, B. 25 MLD New SBR type STP, C. Augmentation of 7 nos. Existing PS/LS, D. De-silting and repairing of incoming and outgoing pipelines.
11. It is also stated that the Department has submitted the revised DPR on 06.09.2021 to the State Project Management Group (SPMG) for submission to NMCG and final cost of project now is Rs. 235.56 crores and the items considered are as under:-
A. Augmentation of existing STP (ASP type) to 40 MLD, B. 25 MLD New SBR type STP, C. Augmentation of 7 nos. existing PS/LS, D. De-silting and repairing of incoming and outgoing pipelines, E. Construction of New Treated Effluent Collection Sump Cum Pump House, F. Dedicated 750 dia. force main from New Treated Effluent Collection Sump Cum Pump House to Monikhal, G. Construction of Approach Road (New Taratala Road)
12. It is also stated in paragraph (d) of the affidavit that as per the Minutes of the review meeting held on 23.09.2021 with Executive 5 Director (Projects), NMCG vide conference, which is received to TNP/TP&D Dept. on 7th Oct., 2021, it has been suggested from NMCG to set up 1 single unit STP of 65 MLD at Garden Reach STP complex instead of rehabilitation of existing and old ASP STP (40 MLD) together with the newly proposed SBR unit (25 MLD) because this may reduce the overall expenditure for construction commission and maintenance. The 30 years age-old structure should be dismantled as it would not last long even after repairs.
13. The time of completion of the project has been given as 30 months subject to availability of funds from the NMCG.
14. Mr. Sibojyoti Chakraborty, learned Counsel for State Respondents prays for and is granted four weeks time for filing counter-affidavit.
15. We direct that the affidavit of the State Respondents shall be a comprehensive affidavit encompassing the queries and problems raised by the Maheshtala Municipality and the affidavit shall also address itself to the problems of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation also.
16. The parties shall exchange the affidavits among themselves before the next date of listing.
17. List on 04.05.2022.
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B. Amit Sthalekar, JM ...................................
Saibal Dasgupta, EM March 10, 2022 Original Application No.66/2021/EZ MN 6