Will act against landowners allowing waste kilns: Board to NGT

Acting against landowners allowing illegal waste kilns in their fields in the Aravallis, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) plans to penalise them. Informing the NGT through an affidavit, the board claimed that it had sought the details of landowners from the

Revenue Department and other authorities concerned in respect of the land where such activities were carried out.

The NGT had taken a suo moto cognisance of 'The Tribune’s' December 2024 report titled "Toxic kilns pollute Aravallis: Wildlife and locals suffer". The tribunal, in its initial proceedings, pulled up Haryana and Rajasthan and directed their respective pollution control boards and the Forest and Environment Ministries to submit affidavits. Both boards submitted their affidavits on September 5. According to the Haryana board’s affidavit, the site of Nurpur village was visited on in December 2024.

“During the visit, no activity of open burning in a kiln was found within the area of Nurpur village. However, many illegal kiln activities with raw material and processed sheets were observed on land falling in Udhanwas village, in Alwar district of Rajasthan —

adjacent to Nurpur in Haryana. Further, inspections were carried out in the Tauru area," said the HSPCB in its affidavit.

During inspection, one such site was identified in Milakpur village in Nuh district, where the open burning of plastic waste and rubber to manufacture flattened sheets was observed. Consequently, a show-cause notice, dated 25.04.2025, was issued to the violators under the Air Act. "Closure directions have also been issued against the unit,” it said.

The HSPCB said it had requested the SDM, Tauru, to initiate action against those involved in such activities, as well as the landowners.