NGT flags 'tardy progress' in Bengal's waste management system in urban local bodies

Kolkata, Sep 24 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has observed "gross deficiencies and tardy progress" in solid and liquid waste management by urban local bodies (ULBs) in West Bengal, despite earlier directives from the Supreme Court on the matter.

The East Zone Bench of the tribunal, comprising Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert members A Senthil, Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi and Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, made the observation during a recent hearing after examining a status report submitted by the state’s chief secretary on July 29.

"Though the chief secretary is responding regularly, we find gross deficiencies and tardy progress in solid and liquid waste management," the bench noted.

In terms of solid waste management, the tribunal said out of 10,227 tonnes of daily waste generated, only 2,213 tonnes were being processed, leaving a significant unprocessed gap of over 8,000 tonnes.

"We find there are some Urban Local Bodies (ULB) which are not properly segregating the waste and mixed trash is being transported to the dump sites/processing sites such as Falkata, Bally, Panihati, Haringhata and others," it said.

"It has been disclosed that sites are not available in ULBs for setting up waste processing facilities. Therefore, efforts are being made to expedite bioremediation of legacy waste sites to reclaim land for setting up such facilities. We find that such efforts will be futile unless biomining and day-to-day waste processing are carried out simultaneously, corresponding to both the quantities of legacy waste to be remediated and the waste to be processed on a daily basis," the bench said.

The NGT directed the West Bengal government to submit details on land availability for solid waste processing for every ULB, as well as a factual status report on legacy waste, area reclaimed post-biomining, reject/residue management, and timelines for completion of the remaining work.

The tribunal set April 7, 2026 as the deadline for filing the comprehensive report by Bengal.

The next report should also specify the timelines for setting up waste processing facilities, the NGT said.

About liquid waste management, the NGT found that against an estimated sewage generation of 2,758 million litres per day (MLD), the actual treatment is 637 MLD.

The order stipulated gaps in treatment and treatment by wetland method be disclosed and let there be proper ULB-wise disclosures on sewage generation, collection, treatment and the gaps.

The bench directed the state to disclose the gaps in sewage treatment, including those covered by wetland methods, and to submit ULB-wise data on sewage generation, collection, treatment, and gaps.

It further clarified that disclosures must cover all 128 ULBs, and not be limited to areas under the Ganga river basin. The state must ensure full compliance with the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the tribunal added. PTI SUS MNB