Pollution Board lists action against officers for waste accumulation

The Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) about the steps being taken to initiate civil action against eight officers of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation for violating the Environment Protection Act.

The green tribunal was hearing an application filed by Raja Muzaffar against the unscientific dumping of municipal solid waste at Achan landfill site in Srinagar since 2017.

The three-member NGT bench, in an order issued on March 20, said, “So far as the respondent J&K PCC is concerned, it has filed a reply dated March 18, 2025, disclosing the steps being taken to initiate civil action against the officers responsible for violation under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.” It noted that a list of eight former commissioners of Srinagar Municipal Corporation has been enclosed.

The JKPCC has sought three weeks to file a complaint before a competent forum.

“Prayer is allowed. Let further progress report be filed by J&K PCC within four weeks,” the NGT order read.

In addition, the green tribunal has asked the current commissioner of the municipal corporation to furnish an undertaking within 10 days on various measures to be taken in short, medium and long term to clear the Achan landfill site.

The steps to be taken include ensuring that 11.50 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste dumped at the site would be cleared in two years.

The NGT order came after the current commissioner, Owais Ahmad, informed the tribunal that it would require at least two years to clear such a huge quantity of legacy waste.

He told the NGT that Leachate Treatment Plant will be made operational, while anti-odour chemicals and bio-enzymes will be applied to the waste.

A green buffer zone will be made by planting 3,200 trees by June 2025 as immediate action, Ahmad told the tribunal.