NGT Cracks Down on Waste Burning in Talcher, Issues Notice to Municipality
Debaranjan Samal
associate editor,Odishabarta
Talcher/Bhubaneswar,(-9/03/2026):In a sharp intervention over rising pollution concerns, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Talcher Municipality and other authorities over alleged systematic burning of municipal waste, including plastic, in open public spaces in violation of environmental laws. Not only its a poisoning atmosphere of the entire city.
The order was passed by the Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata, comprising Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi (Judicial Member) and Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi (Expert Member) while hearing Original Application No. 29/2026/EZ filed by RTI activist Deba Prasad Sahoo.
The petition alleges that sanitation workers engaged by the municipality have been regularly setting fire to heaps of solid waste, including plastic and dry leaves, across different parts of the town. Such practices are strictly prohibited under Rule 15(k) of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, which mandates scientific disposal of municipal waste and bans over rising of pollution.
