As many as 25 states missed the deadline for submitting their action plans on the disposal of plastic waste to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). National Green Tribunal (NGT) had set a deadline of April 30, which these states have missed and thus have been asked to pay environment compensation of Rs 1 crore, reported Business Standard.
The action plan was supposed to comprise of efficient plans for implementation of various provisions of Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules for collection, segregation and disposal of waste.
Apart from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Sikkim and the remaining states/UTs, all the states have failed to submit their action plans for compliance of Plastic Waste Management Rules and furnish the same to the CPCB before the deadline.
S K Nigam, the former Additional Director of CPCB on states failing to submit the reports, said, “They did not comply with our orders, so we moved the NGT. Now they are violating NGT orders, so they have to pay the price for it.” He further said that violating NGT’s guidelines can also lead to imprisonment.
The NGT earlier this year had said, “It is made clear that any failure in this regard will result in defaulting states being required to pay compensation to be deposited with the CPCB at the rate of Rs one crore per month after May 1, 2019.”
Nigam, while speaking to PTI, stressed upon the abysmal condition of the plastic and solid waste management rules adopted by various states. Underlining the lack of attention given to waste management, he said, “The state of affairs is poor. Waste management is the last in the list of priorities of municipal corporations.” He also noted that CPCB will now inform the NGT about non-compliance and make sure states pay up.
Ashi Jain, the chairman of Indian Pollution Control Association (NGO), said that the lack of knowledge among the state authorities along with communication gap between the central and state officials was the key reason for the non-compliance.
Providing a possible solution, Jain suggested that the ministry of the environment must undertake awareness programmes to educate state-level officials to carry out segregation and disposal of plastics.
Out of 25 states, 22 states – Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi (subjudice), Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, UP, Uttarakhand, and Tamil Nadu, have imposed a blanket ban on plastic carry bags, but due to inadequate regulation, the carry bags are stocked and sold rampantly. It had also noted that the burning of plastic wastes in the cities and villages has not stalled.
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