Delhi: No violation, won’t pay fine, says north corporation

NEW DELHI: In response to a show-cause notice issued by Delhi Pollution Control Committee for dust-related violations at the Bhalswa landfill, North Delhi Municipal Corporation has said that it will not pay any fine.
Mayor of the civic body, Jai Prakash, claimed that no violations were taking place at the landfill. “The environment minister went to the site without intimating anyone.If he had told us, we would have explained the ground situation to him. Landfill sites cannot be watered as it leads to structural weakening of garbage mound. Watering will lead to collapse of landfill site portions. Who will be responsible in that case?,” he asked.
“The environment ministry is welcome to take over operations of the landfill site if it thinks it is more capable of handling the situation. We are carrying out biomining to reduce the legacy waste. Adding water to the site will lead to leachate generation that will pollute groundwater,” the mayor added.
Gopal Rai had, on Monday, asked DPCC to impose a fine of Rs 20 lakh on the north corporation for violating dust control norms at the Bhalswa landfill.