NGT bans garbage dumps near schools, hospitals

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday asked the government not to allow any ‘dhalao’ (enclosures for dumping garbage) near schools and hospitals in Delhi.

The tribunal said municipal corporations concerned should shift the waste from such enclosures to landfills as often as possible and crack down on random dumping at unassigned sites.

The order came on a petition filed by RC Jain, president of the Delhi State Public Schools Management Association, against the construction of a dhalao at a site in east Delhi’s IP Extension, where a number of schools are located.

The tribunal asked the Delhi government and its irrigation department to restore the site to its earlier condition within three weeks. “The government authorities can always use the site for purposes not detrimental to students,” the NGT said.

“We protested because the site is in front of the regional office of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). There are several schools in the vicinity so the health of more than 10,000 students was at risk,” said Sanjeev Kumar, the petitioner’s lawyer. Some schools located near the site are Vivekanand International, Mayo International, National Victor Public School, Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya and National Victor School.

Almost 85% of Delhi doesn’t have a formal door-to-door trash pickup system. About 2,500 filthy and unhealthy dhalaos serve as a secondary collection centres for the three municipal corporations in thousands of colonies.

The tribunal has asked the corporation to increase the number of pick-up vehicles and dustbins, besides frequent waste removal from dhalaos, against the present system of once a day.