Ludhiana: NGT slams PPCB over illegal waste dumping
PAC member said that despite repeated complaints and awareness drives, the Municipal Corporation Ludhiana (MCL) and other authorities failed to take action
In a case filed by members of the Public Action Committee (PAC) regarding illegal dumping and mishandling of garbage at several sites across Ludhiana, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to assess the environmental damage and submit a detailed report before the next hearing scheduled for January 20, 2026.
PAC member Kapil Arora said that despite repeated complaints and awareness drives, including “Selfie Point” campaigns at several dumping sites, the Municipal Corporation Ludhiana (MCL) and other authorities failed to take action. “We approached the NGT in 2023 after the civic body ignored repeated requests. The Deputy Commissioner and MC Commissioner even submitted misleading reports, following which the NGT appointed Advocate Bhanwar Pal Jadon as Court Commissioner to verify the facts,” he said.
The Court Commissioner’s report, according to PAC members, confirmed that the authorities had not cleared the illegal dumping sites and had tried to mislead the Tribunal.
Another PAC member, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, said that after receiving warnings from the NGT, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) had assured that all dumping sites would be cleared within three months and that waste would be processed as per Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. “However, the deputy commissioner later submitted another false report claiming that all sites had been cleared. We filed objections with photographic evidence and residents’ statements from Model Town Extension to show that garbage still lies there,” he added.
PAC members also highlighted the poor condition of several other dumping locations, including Giaspura Flats, GT Road, Focal Point, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, 200-Ft Bypass, Churpur Road, and Bachan Singh Marg. They submitted recent photographs with GPS coordinates to the Tribunal to prove that waste remains uncleared.
After examining the material placed on record and the report of the Court Commissioner, the NGT directed the PPCB to calculate environmental compensation against the concerned authorities and submit its findings at least one week before the next hearing.
Since the counsel for the PPCB failed to appear during the hearing, the Tribunal also imposed a penalty of ₹10,000, directing the amount to be deposited with the NGT.
