The State Pollution Control Board has served notices to all four civic bodies of Sundargarh district, including the Rourkela Municipal Corporation, seeking replies to complaints of illegally dumping of wastes at different locations.
The civic bodies have hardly taken any initiative to address the problems for a long time now.
Sources said, the SPCB Rourkela Regional Officer had on August 21 served notices to Rourkela Municipal Corporation, Biramitrapur Municipality, Ragangpur Municipality and Sundargarh Municipality, for violating the waste disposal norms.
“The civic bodies are dumping wastes as per their suitability and without any provision for solid waste management. We have served them notices with ultimatum to take necessary measures at the earliest,” said SPCB Regional M Mahalinga.
Significantly, the RMC has been dumping solid wastes in an open area near Chhend colony and on the north side of boundary wall of the Biju Pattnaik University of Technology, Rourkela for last few years.
Sources said locals of Chhend and Pradhan Palli areas have been complaining against such dumping.
Meanwhile, the RMC has acknowledged the notice with an assurance of quick action. “We are dumping solid wastes in the open as we don’t have a designated dumping location. We however identified a land for disposal and working out a plan for establishing a solid waste treatment plant there very soon,” said RMC Commissioner AK Mallick.
Similarly, the Sundargarh Municipality is dumping wastes at different places even as it has been allocated a 10-acre land at Ameli Palli for the purpose by the district administration for two years now. also face similar problems.
“We have received the notice and working out to develop the land allotted to us with arrangement of solid waste management soon,” Sundargarh Municipality Executive Officer N Srinivash
The Rajgagnpur Municipality and the Biramitrapur Municipality have acknowledged the receipt of the notice in similar ways.