Srinagar Sept 6 (KNS) : In a major development the Municipal Council Poonch has finally removed around 1900 Metric Tons-MTs of legacy waste dumped near Poonch river for the last 20 years. The action was taken by district administration and MC Poonch after environmental activist and chairman J&K Climate Action Group -JKCAG Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat filed a case in the National Green Tribunal -NGT three years back.

This was followed by the imposition of a huge penalty of Rs 2.71 crores under the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) last year. The municipal council had deposited Rs 25 lakhs in the account of the Deputy Commissioner Poonch and for recovery of the rest of the money the NGT had directed the auctioning of assets. It is believed that the Rs 25 lakh penalty amount would be used for restoration of the site and to set up an eco park near the erstwhile garbage dumping site.

The Deputy Commissioner of Poonch on NGTs orders this year in January had constituted an auction committee to sell municipal properties, including a community hall, to recover Rs 2.71 crore in environmental compensation imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The penalty was levied against the Poonch Municipal Council (MC) for persistent violations of environmental laws, including the unscientific dumping of solid waste near the Poonch River and failure to operationalize a waste management plant. Official records submitted to the NGT indicate that nearly 1900 metric tonnes of legacy waste remained untreated at the Shanti Nagar dumping site near Sher-e-Kashmir bridge and this waste was cleared in the last 2 months.

Of the total fine, only Rs 25 lakh had been recovered until Jan 2026, leaving Rs 2.46 crore outstanding. The NGT had earlier imposed a personal cost of Rs 10,000 on the Deputy Commissioner in September 2024 for delays in recovering the amount.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

"The waste has been cleared and dumped at some isolated location; now this waste should be properly remediated by a technical agency. The waste management plant should also be developed in the city plus municipality must collect waste in a segregated manner as per mandate of MSW Rules 2026. The govt must provide at least one dozen small load carriers , battery operated rickshaws to MC Poonch to make sure scientific waste management” said Dr Raja Muzaffar the petitioner in the case

“Even after penalties were imposed on the MC Poonch and Deputy Commissioner, waste continued to be dumped near the sacred Poonch River, also known as Pulast Nadi. This was a clear violation of multiple environmental laws like EP Act 1986, MSW Rules 2026, Water Pollution Act 1974. It is great to know that MC Poonch has finally acted but we want NGT to continuously monitor the work until this issues is fully addressed” said Advocate Shakir Parray , legal advisor of J&K Climate Action Group

Members of J&K Climate Action Group who visited Poonch included Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat, Mir Mushtaq, Advocate Shakir Parray, Ajaz Sofi and Lokesh Sharma. The group visited the dumping site near the Poonch river and expressed satisfaction but wanted full implementation of MSW Rules 2016 in Poonch. They also visited the newly acquired site for the waste management plant along with the CEO of MC Poonch, Mr. Khaleel Banday. Chairman and members of JKCAG also expressed gratitude to their senior activist and district coordinator Poonch Lokesh Sharma for his steadfastness and commitment for clearing waste near Poonch river and providing all the technical inputs .(KNS)