Untreated waste: Green board slaps 1L fine on gram panchayat in Lahaul Spiti

Kullu: The Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB) has slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Koksar gram panchayat in Lahaul Spiti district for not treating and managing solid waste scientifically and failing to prevent littering in the eco-sensitive zone.The penalty was imposed after officials from HPSPCB inspected the area and found many locations near the north portal of Atal Tunnel littered with waste, including along the roads to Koksar village and Rohtang Pass. They also found that the Koksar panchayat had dumped waste in the nearby Dimpuk village along a water body. Besides, a material recovery facility was not functioning. They came across open burning of solid waste, found that there was no treatment facility for wet waste and no sign boards warning against littering in Koksar.The inspection was conducted following NGT’s directions in an ongoing case in which the petitioner – an environmental NGO – has complained that the non-disposal of solid waste was polluting the Koksar area.In a status report submitted to the NGT recently, the HPSPCB stated that another inspection was carried out in Koksar on Sept 11 and the material recovery facility was yet again found to be non-functional. “During the course of inspection, it was observed that there was no source of power supply to run the facility and dry waste was found collected inside the MRF,” stated the report. It said there were plans to initiate a study to determine the carrying capacity of Sissu and Koksar areas in Lahaul Spiti so that tourist flow could be controlled, if necessary.We also published the following articles recently