The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that there is no illegal dismantling of e-waste along the banks of the Ramganga river in Moradabad, an important tributary of the Ganges. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said any dismantling or recycling has to be done in accordance with the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016. “Treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDF) must also be compliant with the rules. Such precautions of compliance of the rules are required by all handlers or recyclers of e-waste/hazardous or other waste throughout the country,” the bench said. The tribunal said the direction be circulated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to all concerned and status of compliance may be filed before it. During the proceedings, Uttar Pradesh chief secretary submitted a report stating that an action plan will be executed in two stages. “In stage-I, there will be temporary storage and in stage-II, permanent facility will be set up. Status report has been handed over during the hearing to the effect that temporary storage has been ensured and several steps taken for permanent disposal in TSDF at Amroha. The entire process will be completed within three months,” the bench noted. The state government had earlier told the NGT that black powdery residue of burnt electronic waste (e-waste) has been removed from the banks of the Ramganga river in Moradabad. The UP government, in its progress report, informed the tribunal that e-waste removed from the banks of the Ramganga river in Moradabad is being stored safely in a scientific manner at a temporary site. The green panel had earlier imposed an environment compensation of Rs 10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government for failing to take action on disposing e-waste from the banks of the Ramganga. Earlier, a committee comprising officials of the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Moradabad Nagar Nigam, UP Public Works Department and the UP Rural Engineering Services had told the tribunal in a report that the e-waste lying on the banks of the Ramganga river contains hazardous chemicals such as chromium and cadmium. The committee, formed by the NGT, had said the concentration of metals in the e-waste, which was in the form of black powder, was above the prescribed level. The report was filed in a petition by scientist Mahendra Pandey, seeking action against illegal processing of electronic waste in Moradabad, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur districts of Uttar Pradesh along the Ramganga river.
