The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has cracked the whip on major waste generators in the national Capital, including 5-Star hotels and banquet halls, and slapped hefty fines on them for failing to properly manage and treat sewage.
A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar imposed a penalty of Rs 7 lakh each on Taj Palace, Taj Vivanta hotels and Zorba Entertainment Pvt ltd, Rs 5 lakh each on Crown Plaza in Mayur Vihar, The lalit and Hotel Metropolitan, Rs 3 lakh each on Golden Petal Hotel & Banquet and Mayur Vihar-based Holiday Inn and Rs 2.50 lakh on GK Motel Pvt ltd.
The NGT also directed them to install sewage treatment plants (STPs) and anti-pollution devices within two weeks and asked them to ensure that the STPs function properly on a regular basis. The matter has been listed for hearing on Thursday.
The NGT had earlier issued notices to 5-star hotels, malls, hospitals, educational institutions with hostels and housing societies which had not complied with Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The list of defaulters included eight hotels and two hospitals in the area covered by the New Delhi Municipal Council, seven hotels, four malls, five hospitals, railway and bus stations under East Delhi Municipal Corporation besides several others in areas under the North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations.
The NGT order had come after it perused an interim report submitted by a committee set up by it which recommended action against defaulters for lack of mechanism to recycle waste.
The tribunal had constituted the committee comprising representatives of the ministries of Environment and Urban Development, Director General of Health Services, Medical Council of India, DDA, municipal corporations, the Delhi Government, Central Pollution Control Board, Railways and Delhi Pollution Control Committee. It also had four independent experts.
It had directed the committee to inspect all five-star hotels, hospitals with more than 200 beds, cooperative group housing societies with over 300 flats, markets, shopping malls with built-up area of over 50,000 sq mt, colleges with hostel accommodation for more than 500 students.
The green panel had earlier directed the Delhi Government to provide a list of all mass generators of waste, while noting that the problem of waste generation was being faced by the entire country and urgent steps were needed to be taken without “demur and default”.
The green body had noted that Delhi generates nearly 14,100 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste per day and said that the mass generators of waste cannot be equated to a simple households generating trash.