The National Green Tribunal has asked the Uttarakhand chief secretary to verify an allegation of illegal dumping of solid wastes including plastic and hazardous bio-medical garbages, in hilly areas of the state and submit his report to the tribunal.
An NGT bench headed by its chairperson, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, asked the chief secretary to ascertain the veracity of the allegations from the state's Forest and Irrigation Department.
The bench also ordered its registry to transmit its order to the state authorities through e-mail.
"A copy of this order be sent to the chief secretary, principal chief conservator of forest, Irrigation Department's secretary and Uttrakhand's Urban Development Department by email," said the bench in a recent order.
The tribunal directed the applicant, an NGO, to furnish a set of papers also to the Uttarakhand chief secretary and other concerned departments within a week and file an affidavit testifying that the relevant documents have been sent to them.
The bench subsequently tagged the case along with a similar case on compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 for the State of Uttarakhand, which will come up for hearing in September.
More From This Section
The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by NGO Friends and others against dumping of various kinds of garbages, including solid wastes, plastic and hazardous bio-medical materials, construction and demolition materials in Uttarakhand, especially in its hills and higher reaches of the state.
Senior advocate Rajiv Dutta appeared for the petitioners.
The plea, filed through advocate Akash Vashishtha, alleged that the state agencies have failed in disposing of and effectively managing the waste.
The applicant also submitted to the court several photographs in support of the allegation.