After the NGT imposed a Rs 900-crore fine on the Delhi government for improper management of solid municipal waste, the Congress on Thursday termed it a strong indictment of "corruption and inaction" of the Aam Aadmi Party-led dispensation.
Anil Bhardwaj, chairman of the communications department of the Delhi Congress, said the city government and the civic body never bothered to clear the three landfill sites in the national capital -- Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla.
Observing that "citizens cannot be faced with an emergency situation due to lack of governance", the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Delhi government to pay Rs 900 crore as environmental compensation for improper management of solid municipal waste.
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A bench headed by chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel noted that around 80 per cent of the 300 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste at the three landfill sites was not remediated.
"The Delhi government and the MCD only indulged in verbal battles without doing any constructive work in the past eight years," Bhardwaj alleged.
The three garbage mountains in Delhi have led to "massive" air and water pollution, he said.
"People living in the surrounding areas have been undergoing terrible suffering, including breathing problems and lung diseases, and their complaints have fallen on deaf ears," he added.
At the current pace of work, Bhardwaj said, it will take more than 10 years for the Delhi government and the MCD to flatten the garbage mountains in the national capital.
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The NGT said the scenario presented a grim picture of the environmental emergency in the national capital.
(With PTI inputs)
