Ministry of Environment to frame new rules for NCR region

New Delhi, Feb 24 (UNI) Taking serious note of NCR region becoming a dumping ground for garbage and other solid waste deposits, the Ministry of Environment and Forests would put in place a new set of rules in the next four months.

The step will replace the existing 2,000 rules which municipalities in the region would have to comply with.

The decision was taken at the concluding session of a two-day workshop on municipal solid waste management organised by Assocham.

The Ministry did not need any Cabinet approval for replacing the 2,000-odd rules with new set of rules as Environment Protection and Forest Act empowers it to notify new rules without any such approval, senior officials said.

The rules framed by the Ministry first in 1999 and later in 2003 have turned outdated and therefore new rules are called for to put in place the scientific removal of garbage and other solid waste for recycling purposes, they added.

Meanwhile, Assocham President Venugopal N Dhoot said they have submitted a detailed paper to the Ministry, outlining the need for keeping the NCR region clean in view of forthcoming Commonwealth Games.

He also said the new set of rules would be put in place which will also come handy to dispose off the e-wastes which is being dumped without any caution and care in large cities particularly those of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

UNI