As wetland vanishes under waste, agencies trade blame

Five months since being pulled up by the National Green Tribunal over the disappearance of a water body, the Jharoda pond, in Wazirabad, central and state agencies continued to play the blame game over dumping of inert material at the functional wetland, officials aware of the matter said.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

A view of the Jharoda pond, which earlier played host to birds and plants.

(RAJ K RAJ/HT PHOTO)

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which oversees Delhi's landfills at Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur, sought to blame the private concessionaire involved in the bioremediation process and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the landowning agency. Meanwhile, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) held that it was the Delhi Pollution Control Committee's (DPCCs) responsibility to ensure adherence to Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, according to submissions made in the tribunal.

In July, the NGT took suo motu cognisance of a news report detailing the dumping of inert material from the Bhalswa landfill on a functional wetland, the Jharoda pond, which resulted in its disappearance.

The tribunal issued notice to MCD, CPCB, DPCC and other agencies concerned, seeking detailed reports on the water body.