NGT appoints 10 commissioners for dengue inspection
NEW DELHI: Vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya have started spreading in the city and the steps taken by the authorities to contain the menace are a mere "formality", National Green Tribunal said.
Unhappy with the situation, a bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar appointed 10 local commissioners to inspect different places in the city under each municipal corporation and report to it about the problem persisting on the ground.
"We appoint local commissioners to inspect areas under the jurisdiction of all the municipal corporations and the Delhi Cantonment Board. They shall submit a complete and comprehensive report to show places of water logging and dumping of municipal solid waste," the bench said.
The tribunal also asked them to submit a report on mechanism adopted for dumping of municipal solid waste in unauthorised colonies and inform it whether sites for fumigation have been identified or not.
The NGT said that each local commissioner would be accompanied by an officer of the corporation concerned and directed the police to provide security to them.
It also fixed a remuneration of Rs 15,000 which would be paid to the local commissioners by the municipal corporation and Delhi Cantonment Board.
The apex environment watchdog also refused to agree with the submissions made by various civic bodies that dengue patients were mainly outsiders and sufficient precautions have been taken to handle the situation.
Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, who appeared for the petitioner Mahendra Pandey in the case, strongly opposed the submission and said that all the authorities have completely failed to discharge their duties.
NGT directed Delhi Cantonment Board to sort out waste at the source itself and transport it to the dumping sites at Bawana waste processing plant after segregation.
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