New Delhi November 18 (KNS): The Chief Executive Officer -CEO Municipal Council Poonch has informed the National Green Tribunal -NGT that shortlisting of bidders and technical evaluation for managing 90,000 metric tons of legacy waste will be done in a week's time and within 2 weeks the L1 will be identified and work allocated accordingly. The matter was listed for hearing before the Principal Bench of NGT headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Srivastava. Expert Member of NGT Dr Senthil Veil was also present during the hearing. Advocate Itisha Awasthi who is the counsel for the petitioner Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat was also present during the hearing along with CEO Municipal Council Poonch Khalil Ahmad Banday and Additional District Magistrate -ADM Tahir Mustaffa Malik.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MC Poonch who appeared virtually through Video Conferencing submitted before the NGT that 90,000 MT of legacy waste was lying on the banks of Poonch river near Sher e Kashmir Bridge. He further submitted that a site has been selected for the bio-mining facility which is located at a distance of about 130 metres from the bank of the river. As per the order of the NGT the CEO Municipal Council Poonch couldn’t reveal whether the area falls under the flood plain of Poonch river or not ?

“CEO MC Poonch could not point out if the said site falls within the flood plain of the river. Hence, he is directed to ascertain this fact on the basis of old flood records of that area and point out if the same falls within the active flood plain/flood plain of the river. He is also directed to file an affidavit disclosing the progress in this regard and the status of the site being in the flood plain of the river within four weeks “ reads the order passed by National Green Tribunal on 13.11.2025

The CEO MC Poonch informed the tribunal that the tender has been floated for bio- mining the legacy waste and 7 participants have put their bid.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

“The technical evaluation is in progress which will be completed within a period of one week and the L1 will be decided within two weeks and the work will be awarded “ the CEO told NGTs Principal Bench

The NGT directed the CEO MC Poonch to file an affidavit disclosing the progress in this regard and the status of the site being in the flood plain of the river within four weeks.

The counsel for UT of J&K in National Green Tribunal-NGT Advocate Gautam Singh appearing for the J&K Pollution Control Committee-JKPCC also submitted that as against the Environmental Compensation-EC amount of ? 1,61,00,000/- the amount of ? 25 lakhs has been recovered.

“The action has been initiated to recover the remaining amount by way of attachment and auction” Govt counsel he informed the NGT bench

The Principal Bench of the NGT also directed him to place on record the progress made in this regard within four weeks. The matter is now listed for another hearing on 6th January 2025. Pertinently Dr Raja Muzaffar the petitioner in this case along with local civil society members had a detailed meeting with DC Poonch , CEO MC Poonch recently who assured him that all the legacy waste would be cleared.

"We had suggested shifting biodegradable waste to the Salotari area so that the same can be processed there on a regular basis and DC gave assurance to do this . I am sure that Poonch town would be neat and clean in another 6 months to year provided district administration and MC Poonch are show same seriousness which they exhibited before us during our recent meeting" said Dr Raja Muzaffar.(KNS)