Court orders shifting of Delhi bio-medical disposal plant

New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the city government to shift the bio-medical waste treatment plant in south Delhi to some other place in six months as it impacted health of residents of a nearby colony.

A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice V K Jain said: “We direct Delhi Government and M/s. Synergy Waste Management Pvt Ltd to shift the bio-medical waste disposal facility, being operated near Sukhdev Vihar, to a suitable site.”

In 2006, the Delhi government and Synergy Waste Management Pvt Ltd, had established the Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility at Okhla area after obtaining consent from Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), but despite opposition from the colony residents who cited health problems.

The company also filed a petition wanting to operate from the existing site only on the ground that its has been following the prescribed norms of waste management after another plea filed by the residents wanted it to be shifted out on health grounds.

The court said that Delhi’s chief secretary would identify the site within three months, with the aid of the DPCC and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), and the facility would be shifted in the next three months - or six months from the date of its order.

However, the court, allowed the company to “continue to operate the facility at the present site till it is shifted to a new site in terms of this order, or six months from today, whichever is earlier”.

The joint venture waste disposal firm had earlier said that DDA to allot one acre plot to it for shifting the facility, as it has been mandated by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The court said: “…When this submission was made, we pointed out to the learned counsel for M/s Synergy that the area presently occupied by their facility is much less than one acre and having set up the facility on a lesser area, they have no legal right to ask for a bigger plot.”

“It also appears to us that the requirement of at least one acre of land for setting up of such facility may only be the desirable area for setting up such a facility and not a mandatory requirement. However, it is for the government to take a view in this regard, in consultation with CPCB/DPCC.”

The plant treats and disposes bio-medical waste collected from different hospitals and health care establishments and it also has an Effluent Treatment Plant for the treating waste water generated from the facility. It is situated at a distance of about 30 meters away from residential Sukhdev Vihar colony.