CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the state Housing and Urban Development department to submit an action taken report (ATR) within four weeks regarding compliance with its earlier orders for the removal of legacy waste in Bargarh town.
The legacy waste has been lying untreated in Bargarh for over a decade, posing serious environmental and health risks to nearby residents. Ramakanta Rout and six other residents of Purushotam Nagar in Ward No 15 under the Bargarh municipality had filed the petition seeking criminal proceedings against the authorities for failing to act on NGT’s directives issued on March 23, 2023.
The Tribunal had ordered the complete treatment of the legacy waste through biomining, micro-composting centres or material recovery facilities by December 31, 2023. The NGT also directed the Odisha government to deposit Rs 1.84 crore in an ESCROW account for remediation efforts by the Bargarh Municipality.
The bench comprising Justice B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (Expert Member) reviewed an inspection report submitted by the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) along with its affidavit and the Bargarh municipality’s reply to a notice.
It was revealed that while a detailed project report (DPR) had been prepared and submitted to the government, it was returned for revisions. The revised DPR has now been forwarded to the engineer-in-chief of Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB), Bhubaneswar for further processing. “We, therefore, direct the Housing and Urban Development department to file its affidavit within four weeks to show what action has been taken,” the bench stated.
It also noted that Rs 1.90 crore had already been released by the state government to the Bargarh municipality, which must now submit an affidavit detailing how the funds are being used in line with Tribunal orders. The matter has been listed for the next hearing on September 10.