National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi: A Coram of Justice K. Ramakrishnan (Judicial Member) and Dr Nagin Nanda (Expert Member) dismissed an application filed by Delhi Cantonment Board that sought the intervention of the Tribunal to make a change of wards which they gave to the Chief Secretary as per the directions of this Tribunal. This was done to make the model ward under the Board for implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in an effective manner.
The applicants alleged that following the directions of this Tribunal, in the meeting held by the Chief Secretary, they were given three wards situated in Delhi Cantonment Area which were proposed to be notified as model wards. It was alleged in the application that the second ward and fourth ward fell entirely within the Defence, and it was not under the control or management of the Cantonment Board. So, they found it difficult to implement the Rules in that area. Subsequently, they filed a petition where they wanted to substitute these wards with two other wards.
The counsel for the applicant, Mr. Rahul Singhal, submitted that the Board may not be able to implement the Rules in the above said two wards as it was under the control of the Defence and hence, the prayer was made to change the model wards accordingly.
The Tribunal observed that the submission made by Singhal was without any merit. It remarked that the Army was a unit and had to comply with the Rules and set a model as to how the rules would be implemented in that area effectively. They could sort a plan for implementation by talking to the people in that area. The Tribunal opined that it was expected that the Army would cooperate with the Cantonment Board to implement the rules “in its true spirit and to be a model for others.” Hence, the application was dismissed.[ I.A. No. 375/2019, 2019 SCC OnLine NGT 96, decided on 04-06-2019]
