NGT seeks status of lab, testing facilities available to Delhi pollution panel

The NGT has asked the Member Secretary of the DPCC to appear virtually in the Ghazipur fill fire case.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday directed the Member Secretary of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to appear virtually before it and disclose the status of its laboratory and the availability of testing equipment in connection with the Ghazipur landfill fire case.

The Bench, comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, and Dr Afroz Ahmad, Expert Member, was hearing an application based on a news report. During the hearing, counsel appearing for the DPCC said the necessary equipment for groundwater testing was not available with it. It was submitted that a tender had been floated on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal and that testing would be undertaken after the equipment was obtained.

The tribunal observed that the DPCC was expected to have a fully equipped laboratory and directed its Member Secretary to appear virtually at the next hearing to disclose the status of the laboratory and the equipment available.

In its previous order, the tribunal had directed the DPCC to collect groundwater samples and conduct analysis in accordance with Clause (E) of Schedule II of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026. The directions required samples to be collected from at least 20 different locations within the prescribed radius of the Ghazipur landfill site, subsequently extending to a radius of 1.5 kilometres, and a sample analysis report to be submitted before the NGT.

As the DPCC was not represented at the previous hearing, the tribunal had directed that a copy of its order be forwarded to the Member Secretary, DPCC, for necessary compliance. At the hearing, counsel for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) informed the tribunal that he had been engaged only on the previous day and sought time to obtain the relevant documents and prepare for the matter.