Dhabas in Murthal don’t have pollution board nod: CPCB

NEWDELHI: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Monday told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that restaurants and roadside eateries at Murthal in Haryana were operating without approval from the state pollution control board and extracting ground water without permission.

The apex pollution monitoring body which along with Haryana State Pollution Control Board and the municipal corporation inspected the eating outlets told a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel that the units need to take necessary permission from state pollution control boards for operating roadside eateries.

“The state pollution control boards should ensure that these roadside eateries/restaurants obtain necessary permission from the boards as per the state policy. No unit should be allowed to be established in areas in which such facilities are not available and should be closed down or shifted to areas where such facilities are available,” the CPCB said in its report.

The CPCB also recommended that the state pollution control boards should ensure that necessary infrastructure with respect to collection and treatment of sewage and solid waste has been provided prior to granting permission to such units.

Murthal’s Dhaba Association president Manjeet Singh said that an NGT team paid a visit here to take stock of the situation. “The dhaba owners are following the norms set for dumping of garbage. The government has also accepted the demand to construct a sewage treatment plant (STP).”

Virender Kadian, who runs Mannat Hotel-cum-dhaba in Murthal, said, “We are also pursuing a case in the NGT and we are hopeful of a favourable decision. After the NGT order, the dhaba owners talked to the government officials and they accepted our demand to build a sewage treatment plant (STP).” Kadian, who is also a member of Dhaba Association, said there are more than 40 dhabas in Murthal. He said setting up an STP and running it on their own wouldn’t have been possible for the eatery owners had the government not agreed to construct one.

The tribunal had earlier directed authorities to expedite setting up of a solid waste treatment plant for management of garbage generated by eateries.

CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD TOLD NGT THAT THE EATERIES ARE ALSO EXTRACTING GROUND WATER WITHOUT PERMISSION

VICTIM’S BROTHER

SAYS ACCUSED WAS SUFFERING FROM MENTAL ILLNESS THAT MIGHT HAVE PROMPTED HIM TO TAKE THIS STEP