Despite ban, Chamba MC sanitation contractors dumping waste into Ravi

Naresh Thakur

Chamba, March 21

Despite ban by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), tonnes of garbage is being dumped by sanitation contractors of the Chamba Municipal Council into the Ravi.

Recently, a sanitation contractor of the MC was fined Rs 10,000 for dumping garbage into the river.

A team of the pollution control board had caught a vehicle of the contractor dumping waste into the river. The board has also served a notice to the MC for its contractors flouting the norms.

The NGT had, in 2017, banned the dumping and burning of waste on the floodplains of the Ravi in Chamba. However, sanitation contractors continue to dump waste into the river or its tributaries.

This is not the first time that the pollution control board has served a notice to the Chamba civic body. As recently as last month, the board had issued a notice to the Chamba Municipal Council for polluting the Ravi.

A waste processing plant has been set up by the MC at Kuranh. However, in an attempt to save money, contractors often resort to dumping garbage into the Ravi at the night.

Rahul Sharma, Subdivisional Officer, Pollution Control Board, said they had written to the higher authorities for initiating prosecution against the civic body. The PCB has already imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 8 lakh on the MC.