NGT pulls up Hamirpur civic body in Himachal over poor waste management

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Municipal Corporation of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh to clear the entire 10,000 metric tonnes of legacy waste at village Dughneri by February 10, 2026.

The direction came from a bench comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, and Dr. A. Senthil Vel, expert member, while hearing an application filed by Rita Sharma and others against the State of Himachal Pradesh and others.

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The NGT noted that earlier orders to ensure proper waste management had not been fully complied with, as only 228 tonnes of the 2,100 tonnes of accumulated waste had been remediated.

On August 12, 2025, the Commissioner of the Hamirpur Municipal Corporation appeared before the NGT virtually and assured that the legacy waste would be cleared within six months.

Commissioner Abhishek Kumar Garg stated in an affidavit on August 26, 2025, that the entire legacy waste would be cleared by February 10, 2026. The affidavit detailed that Hamirpur generates about 17 tonnes of waste daily, of which 8–9 tonnes are wet waste and 7–8 tonnes are dry.

The plans include using composting pits, piggery units, and biomethanation facilities for wet waste, and separator machines to process dry and legacy waste.

The Commissioner also filed an undertaking assuring that 100% of the daily waste would be processed and that no new legacy waste would be created.

The NGT took the affidavit and undertaking on record and directed the Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board to conduct an inspection after February 10, 2026, and submit a report on the status of legacy waste to its Registrar General.

With these directions, the matter has been disposed of.