It seems almost certain now that the solid waste disposal plant from Shimla will be shifted to the outskirts of the hill station as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given its approval .
The town’s dump plant is currently located at Darni-ka- bagicha on the Khalini by-pass road and is proposed to be shifted to the Totu-Tara Devi by-pass road on the edge of Shimla. The vedict was passed by Justice A S Naidu and G K Pandey, an expert . Since trees will be cut down to build the new dumping site, the order asks the Shimla civic authorities to plant twice the number of trees and double the number of saplings to maintain ecological balance. The judgment came after villagers living near the proposed dumping site moved the green court seeking prevention of the setting up of a landfill site and the waste disposal site near village Majhthai. The counsel for the Shimla municipal corporation argued that the proposed processing plant is ultra-modern and technically sound.
The plant will have life-span of at least 20 years.
Two years ago, the HP High Court had ordered the shifting of the dumping plant from the current site after a fire raged here for three days, smoke and bitter smells emitting from the dumping site had engulfed much of the hill station .