Telangana government bans open burning of waste materials

HYDERABAD: The

Telangana government

has banned open burning of

waste materials

in

open land

as well as at

landfill sites

. It also said that anyone who violates this '

complete prohibition

', will face penalties from Rs 5000 for '

simple burning

' and Rs 25,000 for bulk waste burning.

The government, in a G.O., issued earlier this week, said the concerned Urban Local Body/Gram Panchayat is the competent authority for levy of environmental compensation for open waste burning by public, concessionaire, project proponent (private), communities etc. Incidentally, in addition to private persons setting piles of waste on fire, it is a common practice for workers of urban local bodies and municipalities or gram panchayats to burn small piles of waste every day after sweeping of the streets.

The orders also made it mandatory for power generation and cement plans in Telangana to buy and use Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) as fuel in their respective plants, wherever a RDF plant is located within 100 km radius of the power or cement plant.

The environmental compensation collected through the fines will have to be used for creating awareness among general public on environmental issues related to open burning of waste, the government said. It said Monday's orders follow a National Green Tribunal order issued in December 2016 in the Mrs. Almitra H. Patel Vs. UOI & Others in which the NGT directed that states will make it mandatory for power and cement plants to buy and use RDF.

The NGT had also said "we specifically direct that there shall be complete prohibition on open burning of waste on lands, including at landfill sites."

Meanwhile, in another order, the state government issued orders banning 'short life PVC and chlorinated plastics' also as per NGT guides from the 2016 case. It said a draft notification is will be published in the Extraordinary issue of the official Gazette of the State of Telangana for information to all those who may be affected by this decision. The draft will be taken into consideration after the expiry of a 60-day period from the date copies of the Gazette are made available to the public. Anyone who have objections or suggestions on this issue can address them to the Member Secretary, Telangana State Pollution Control Board, Paryavaran Bhavan, A-3, Industrial Estate, Sanathnagar, Hyderabad-500018, the government said.

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