NGT holds Haryana authorities accountable for fire that killed two at Manesar dump

Proceedings had been initiated on the death of two persons and injuries to two others in a fire in the garbage mound spread over 25 acres of land at Manesar, Gurugram.

The National Green Tribunal noted that there was a failure to comply with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 which had specified a timeline for disposal of the legacy waste. “The authorities in Haryana are accountable for the “consequences of such statutory failure by way of compensation to the heirs of the deceased and also to prevent such occurrences in future,” the order said. The state authorities need to comply with the rules for remediation of legacy waste and also the processing of current waste by preparing an action plan.

The NGT said that there is the need to ascertain the factual position with regard to the cause of death, persons responsible for the failure, and remedial measures adopted or proposed and directed the Chief Secretary, Haryana to furnish a report to the court on the matter.

NGT asked the Monitoring Committee constituted by the tribunal headed by headed by Justice Pritam Pal, former Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court to monitor execution of certain orders of the court in Haryana. The Committee may undertake a visit to the site, interact with the stakeholders and give its factual report with recommendations for future course of action, the bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel, Sudhir Agarwal of the NGT said.