Start waste mgmt plant & save Deepor Beel, HC tells govt

The Gauhati High Court has recently directed the state government to fully commission the solid waste management plant which according to the government’s submission before the court is under construction at a cost of over Rs. 3091 crore in East Boragaon on the outskirts of the city by July 1 next year. The court also directed the government to protect Deepor Beel, the only Ramsar site in the state, which is close to the dumping site. The division bench of Chief Justice RM Chhaya and Justice Soumitra Saikia while hearing a batch of petitions including a suo motu pil in the matter also stated “the respondent authorities state government guwahati municipal corporation and state pollution control board shall protect the area of Deepor Beel and shall adhere to the statements made in the affidavits for protection of the said wetland.” The state government brought on record the fact that it with the help of IIT Kharagpur decided to have a plant for scientific disposal of solid waste at Boragaon dumping site which is near Deepor Beel and GMC was directed to execute the same. The civic body had dumped waste at the West Boragaon dumping site for 13 years since 2008.