SC reverses NGT order of closing down Pune’s Baner waste plant

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that closure of garbage processing plant (GPP) would do more harm than good for citizens as it set aside an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) closing an organic waste processing plant at Baner in Pune.

Allowing an appeal filed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) challenging the NGT, Western Zone’s order of October 27, 2020, a bench headed by Justice BR Gavai said, “We find that the closure of the GPP in question, rather than subserving the public interest, would be detrimental to public interest.”

The court held that If the GPP at Baner is closed, the organic waste generated in the western part of Pune city would be required to be taken all the way throughout the city to Hadapsar which is in the eastern part of the city. “This will undoubtedly lead to foul odour and nuisance to the public,” added the bench also comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan.

The tribunal order came on a petition filed by Sus Road Baner Vikas Manch, a body representing the residents of Baner, who objected to the sanctioning of the GPP in a purely residential area that proved to be a nuisance for residents and a source of pollution in the area.

The court found the tribunal to have erred on several factual aspects as the NGT observed that the area where the GPP stood was allotted for a bio-diversity park that was never the case. On going through the record, the court found that the bio-diversity park was to come up on one side of the plant and the residential projects commenced much later after the sanctioning of the GPP by the state government.

The court also doubted the approach of the residents who were keen to get the waste processing plant shifted from their locality and establish it in the vicinity of other buildings, so long as it did not fall in their backyard. While allowing the plant to continue at its original place, the court ensured that effective steps are taken to control the pollution caused by it.

These steps included portable compactors with hook mechanisms by end of this year, laying bitumen road to the waste segregation plant to enhance clean transfer of waste and avoid accumulation of water, and covering of the reject area with a shed.

The court directed the project concessionaire - Noble Exchange Environment Solution, Pune — and the corporation carry out plantation with thick density around the plant. As regards the bio-diversity park, the bench directed the state government to consider the possibility of growing Miyawaki forests to provide enhanced “green lungs” to the nearby areas.

The National Engineering and Environment Research Institute (NEERI), which had earlier submitted recommendations for making the plant environment-friendly when the matter was before the tribunal, was directed by the court to conduct an environmental audit of the GPP every six months. The court directed the corporation to implement NEERI’s suggestions already made with regard to the plant and carry out future recommendations forming part of the audit.

The tribunal’s order was also challenged by the concessionaire after its review petition against the October 2020 order was dismissed by the tribunal in December 2020. The company submitted that the Development Plan for Baner Balewadi, Pune drawn up in 2002 had reserved the land in question for a GPP. This plan came to be sanctioned by the state government in September 2008. It was only later that residential buildings came up in the area.

The corporation signed an agreement with the present concessionaire in 2015 for setting up an organic waste processing plant. The idea was to crush the organic waste received from the corporation into a slurry, after removing any non-biodegradable material. The slurry would then be transported to a facility in Talegaon where raw biogas would be generated from the slurry. The agreement was signed for a period of 30 years.

The state environment impact assessment authority granted environment clearance in 2016 and a year later, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) granted authorisation to set up and operate waste processing/recycling facilities at various sites. The corporation had set up 48 such sites in Pune, including the one at Baner. This authorisation was valid till July 2027.