NGT appointed a committee to inspect steel picking units at Wazirpur

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) constituted an expert committee on February 7, 2019, to inspect steel picking units in Wazirpur which were found to be damaging the environment.

A bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, NGT chairperson, constituted the committee that comprise of representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and a senior scientist from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. The committee was asked to inspect and furnish a report within two months.

The directions came while the NGT was reviewing an application submitted by the Wazirpur Industrial Estate Welfare Society, Delhi Government and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) pertaining to an order passed by the tribunal on October 2018.

In the earlier order, the NGT had noted the DPCC’s stand that the permission will not be granted to such units while the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had submitted that such units are “in prohibited category” under the master plan.

The bench on February 7, said, “It is also clear that huge amount of hazardous waste is dumped in the green belt adjacent to residential area which is not planned to be scientifically handled as per law…the impact of polluting industries is not only on air quality but also on Yamuna.”

NGT appointed CPCB as the nodal agency and said that the committee has to conduct the study to evaluate the carrying capacity of the area with respect to sustainable development of the area.