Supreme Court sets aside NGT order to shift Pune's Baner garbage plant

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday set aside a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order directing the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to shift a garbage plant out of Baner[Pune Municipal Corporation v. Sus Road Baner Vikas Manch and Others]..The top court was hearing an appeal challenging the 2020 NGT order, which directed the PMC to close the plant and relocate it to another siteWhile setting aside the order and allowing the appeal, a Bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and KV Vishwanathan observed that the NGT's decision had been incorrect. The Court has instead called for steps to be taken so that residents in the area do not suffer when the plant continues its operations. "...we find it necessary to caution the appellant-Corporation as well as the respondent-Concessionaire that they should take necessary steps so that the residents residing in the nearby buildings do not have to suffer on account of foul odour. We further direct the appellant-Corporation to install the portable compactors with hook mechanisms so as to ensure that the reject waste does not touch the ground by 31st December 2024," the Court said..Among other such steps to address the woes of residents, the Court said that the PMC should construct a Waste Segregation Plant and that measures should be taken to increase vegetation cover in the area. "The appellant-Corporation is further directed to construct bitumen road to the Waste Segregation Plant and concrete the reject area which will enhance clean transfer of waste and avoid accumulation of water around the Waste Segregation Plant. We further direct the appellant-Corporation as well as the respondent-Concessionaire to construct a shed so as to cover the reject area by 31st December 2024. We further direct the appellant-Corporation/respondent-Concessionaire to carry out plantation with thick density so that there would be a green cover on all the sides of the GPP," the top court said. .The NGT had issued the order to shift the plant from Baner citing a violation of environmental norms.The waste-to-energy plant had been set up on Sus Road, Baner by the PMC in collaboration with Noble Exchange Ltd.However, residents near the plant raised complaints about the foul smell coming from the facility. Consequently, they filed an application with the NGT. In 2020, the NGT ordered its closure on the ground that environmental norms were violated when the plant was set up within a prohibited distance, near several residential homes, among other grounds. This directive has now been set aside by the top court. .[Read Judgment]