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Indian Express
04-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
After protests, Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board orders closure of incinerator in eco-sensitive zone near Gangotri
Days after Gangotri residents protested against its establishment, the Uttarakhand's State Pollution Control Board has ordered the closure of an incinerator set up by the state tourism department in the eco-sensitive zone. The unit was found to have violated the provisions under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and for operating in the Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone without obtaining a consent to operate. It was also found that it had no proper monitoring facilities, a logbook of operations, or a disposal of waste generated from the process, said the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Body. The residents, part of the collective Himalayi Nagarik Drishti Manch, had written to authorities, stating that the incinerator was burning mixed solid waste disposed of in the area, causing emissions. Such units are required to obtain a Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate certificate from the State Pollution Control Board, and they are mandated to keep their effluent quality within the specified norms as specified under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986. The Gangotri unit processes one tonne of solid waste every day. Moreover, the unit was set up in the Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone, an area in which every activity is monitored and regulated by a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary of the state. The incinerator was permitted by the committee last year and was set up by the Ministry of Tourism under the PRASAD Scheme (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive). Officials from the state and Central Pollution Control Body visited the facility on June 24 and found that the Uttarkashi District Tourism Development Officer had not obtained a Consolidated Consent and Authorisation (CCA) under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and authorisation under the Hazardous and other wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016. Though the unit representative said that it processes one tonne of solid waste every day, they could not provide a logbook record. Similarly, the unit representative said the ash generation is negligible and it is kept on the premises, but there was no record of the ash generation, the pollution control body said. The unit also did not maintain records for plastic waste collection. The pollution control bodies also recommended that the facility obtain necessary permissions, including a Consent to Operate from the UKPCB. Following a letter from residents of Uttarkashi to authorities regarding the operation of the unit at Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone, the Uttarkashi DM had said that the unit is a zero-emission system with a solar-powered furnace and operates through a programmed oxygenation plasma technology. He also said that the waste is processed without any combustion or involvement of water or other moving parts. However, according to CPCB guidelines, incinerators have a pollution index of 100 and fall under the red category. Aiswarya Raj is a correspondent with The Indian Express who covers South Haryana. An alumna of Asian College of Journalism and the University of Kerala, she started her career at The Indian Express as a sub-editor in the Delhi city team. In her current position, she reports from Gurgaon and covers the neighbouring districts. She likes to tell stories of people and hopes to find moorings in narrative journalism. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Uttarkashi residents seek action over emission by waste incinerator in Gangotri National Park
Residents of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand have written to the Union government expressing concern over a new waste incinerator in the Gangotri National Park and within the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone. The incinerator, installed a few months ago by the district administration, is burning mixed solid waste disposed in the hills, causing emissions in the region, they said. In the letter sent by the Himalayi Nagarik Drishti Manch to the secretary of Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and National Mission for Clean Ganga on Monday, the residents said that the plant has come up near the Gangotri glacier and within the Gangotri National Park where all such polluting industries are prohibited 'The laws are being openly violated by the administration itself. The garbage is being collected and burnt in the incinerator and its toxic ash is being dumped into the valley towards Ganga. In this way, Ganga water is being made toxic with deadly elements (heavy metals etc.) from the source itself,' the letter said. 'We hope that you will take immediate cognizance to shut down this unit and will ensure strict action against those who are damaging the environment of Ganga and the Himalayas.' Ankur Kansal, an environmental engineer at the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board, said that the project has yet to receive permission from the state board. 'We have checked our database and records. This project has not been granted permission yet. They do not have our No Objection Certificate (NOC),' he said. 'As far as I understand, they have applied for a permit but certain queries have been raised about land use category etc, which are yet to be addressed by the project proponent The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, states that construction of landfill in hilly areas shall be avoided. A transfer station at a suitable enclosed location shall be set up to collect residual waste from the processing facility and inert waste. Suitable land shall be identified in the plain areas, down the hill, within 25 kilometers for setting up sanitary landfill. The residual waste from the transfer station shall be disposed of at this sanitary landfill. Activist and the head of Uttarkashi Nagar Palika American Puri said that the district administration has ignored the concerns raised by the residents. 'We are extremely unhappy with this move. How can you install a waste incinerator inside a forest and that too in an eco-sensitive zone high up in the Himalayas,' he said. 'Gangotri is not any other place. It is a very sensitive area because of biodiversity and forests here.' HT had reported on April 8 that the CPCB directed state pollution control boards to adopt a revised classification of industries with a new category, blue. The new category covers 'essential environmental services' required for management of environmental concerns due to domestic/household activities which otherwise will have large littering potential, it said. Waste to energy plants, certain compressed biogas plants, integrated sanitary landfills, biomining of legacy waste, among others fall under the new blue category, as per documents seen by HT.
