The Times of India                      29.10.2010

LMC set to dump waste without environmental clearance

LUCKNOW: In an extraordinary development, the state government has decided to bypass the mandatory environmental clearance for its municipal solid waste management project on Hardoi Road. According to sources, instead of getting the much-required environmental impact assessment (EIA) done, civic authorities may well allow a private agency to dump tonnes of municipal waste over a land which is acclaimed to be a `usar' (barren) land.

The move comes a day after the high court rapped the authorities for not handling the municipal waste properly, leading to spread of disease. Speaking to TOI, municipal commissioner, Shailesh Kumar Singh said that the civic body cannot wait any further. "We would be following the high court order and get the project executed within 10 days,'' he said.

This is in sharp contrast to what authorities did in case of the site previously selected in Malihabad -- one-month notice period, followed by inviting the no-objection certificate. Later, the construction and design wing of the UP Jal Nigam chalked out a detailed plan for getting the site treated before actual dumping takes place. The site was being examined by the state environment authority (SEA) as it threatened the popular mango belt, essentially the mother Dussehri tree.

But in case of the present site on Hardoi Road, 30 acres of land which happens to be a gram sabha land, authorities are set to circumvent the EIA as well as treatment of land. However, environment experts insist that EIA should be done even if the site is a `usar' land. "The implications may not be immediate. But still toxic waste would percolate down into the ground water aquifers and pollute them leading to broader environmental concerns,'' said Prof MP Singh, former head of the geology department at Lucknow University.

Prof Singh said that the crisis would have been severe had the land been a productive agricultural one. Even in case of an `usar' land, percolation of toxic substances would still be there even though slow.

To note, municipal solid waste does have a strong presence of hazardous and heavy metals, which if dumped over a land could cause severe environmental concerns. In case of Lucknow, around 1500 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste is being generated on a daily basis.

Officials in UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) too maintained that undergoing a one-month notice period and getting the EIA done by the state environment authority is mandatory. Well-placed sources said that the move to bypass the EIA could well lead to a face-off between the UPPCB and the project executing civic agencies. Officials in the board did not ruled out the possibility of slapping a notice on the agency in case the agency dumps the municipal waste over the land. Especially if the site is used without getting it treated. Official maintained of a clear order of the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) where in an environment clearance is essential before any such project is undertaken.

It is not so that the government is not aware of the mandatory rule. The issue was discussed at a meeting called by the department of urban development on Sunday. The board was asked to speed up the environmental clearance as soon as possible. However, not it becomes clear that the board may well require a time frame for over a month.