Team Herald
PANJIM: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has proposed constituting an Apex Monitoring Committee, Regional Monitoring Committee and State Level Committees for effective implementation of the Solid Waste Management Rules.
NGT has also directed States to have a common standard procedure for floating single tender across States and not individual local bodies.
“The role of the Apex Monitoring Committee will be to interact with the concerned Ministries and the Regional Monitoring Committees. The Apex Monitoring Committee may formulate guidelines/directions which may be useful to the Regional Monitoring Committees and the States/Union Territories,” the NGT order states.
In terms of Regional Monitoring Committee, it shall also ensure that mixing of bio-medical waste with municipal solid waste does not take place and bio-medical waste is processed in accordance with the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
In addition there will also be State Level Committees headed by Secretary of the Urban Development with Secretary of the Environment as Members.
“The representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards would assist the State Level Committees. The State Level Committees may have interactions with the local bodies preferably once in two weeks. The local bodies may furnish a report to the State Committees twice a month. The State Committees will take a call on technical and policy issues in accordance with the Rules 2016 consistent with directions of Apex and Regional Monitoring Committees,” NGT said.
The tribunal has further said that it is of the view that instead of every local body individually floating tenders for different services, standards and technical specifications of available services may be specified by the Department of Urban Development and adopted by local bodies.
“Such services may be hired on laid down standard norms to save time. However, this aspect may be finally gone into by the committees,” the order states.
