MCR resumes ISWM construction work after HC lifts stay
Friday, 14 June 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Municipal Corporation of Rishikesh (MCR) resumed the construction work of the Integrating Solid Waste Management (ISWM) plant after the Uttarakhand High Court lifted the stay from the construction that was ordered on March 14 this year.
A petitioner had approached the high court earlier this year stating that the MCR started construction work without obtaining the required permission from the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board (UPCB) which was a gross violation of the Supreme Court guidelines and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). However, the assistant municipal commissioner of the corporation Ramesh Singh Rawat told The Pioneer that the corporation had applied to get the consent to establish the plant from the pollution control board when the petitioner approached the court. “The court ordered a stay on construction in March but we soon got the said permission and approached the court with the valid documents. Considering this, the court lifted the stay on June 12,” Rawat said. He informed that the agency hired to construct the plant has resumed work. The boundary walls were constructed during the initial days of the construction before the court’s stay which was damaged by some elephants in the area. The agency has started the repair work.
The MCR has also involved the forest department in the construction process to ensure safe construction and operation in the area, he added. Informing about the functioning of the ISWM plant, Rawat said that once the plant is established, it will process the inert waste of the municipal bodies of Rishikesh, Muni Ki Reti, Swarg Ashram and Narendranagar. The MCR is taking all possible measures to ensure the plant is ready soon, he added.