MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 2: The administrator of the Muzaffarabad Municipal Corporation and AJK Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Director Dr Syed Asif Hussain on Friday gave an undertaking to the AJK High Court chief justice that they would implement a short-term plan regarding disposal of the solid waste collected from the municipal limits.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Mehmoodul Hassan Raja, who was present in the court, informed Chief Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani that he would prohibit, under section 144 of the CrPC, all the authorities concerned not to use any other place for the disposal of the waste except those set up by the civic body.

He said he would depute a magistrate to be assisted by an EPA officer to ensure that the order was not violated till a long-term arrangement was finalized.

The issue was taken up by the CJ on an application filed in the court by the residents of Neelum Park through a former government official, Sheikh Abdul Qayyum. In their plea, the residents complained to the court that the waste collected from the city was dumped in the Neelum River. The waste, they said, was polluting the river and creating unhygienic conditions in the area.

The chief engineer, the superintending engineer and the executive engineer of the public health engineering (PHE) department informed the CJ that there were 11 points of sewage disposal into the Neelum and Jhelum rivers, but there was no treatment plant attached with the sewerage lines.

The chief engineer said the department required Rs700 million for setting up treatment plants and unless the amount was arranged, they could not divert the flow of sewage.

The CJ held that the disposal of the municipal waste and sewage was the responsibility of the PHE department. He directed the authorities to ensure availability of funds on priority basis so that the treatment plants were established. He asked the PHE department to ensure that leaking points in the sewerage lines were repaired.

The EPA officer and the magistrate were directed to report the leakage points to the PHE department within a week for their repair. “Any violation shall be apprehended as breach of law by the Municipal Corporation and MDA,” the CJ said and noted that the government was responsible to establish the environmental tribunal(s) under section 19 of the AJK Environmental Protection Act, 2000.

The EPA director informed the court that he had already requested the government to establish tribunals, but the government had not yet notified any such tribunals because the task required huge funds.

The CJ said the government could nominate any person in consultation with him as an environmental tribunal even without funds till the final arrangements were made.

He directed the chief secretary to do the needful so that the persons or authorities guilty were tried in accordance with the law by the tribunal duly constituted for the purpose.

The deputy commissioner and the EPA director were directed to submit the report before Aug 5 about the compliance with the court directions.

The magistrate deputed by the DC for the purpose was asked to inspect and ensure that the disposal of the waste was made in accordance with the proposal put up before the court by the administrator and EPA official.