By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court has transferred a plea for closure of the Okhla waste power plant near a residential colony here to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to be heard and decided.
A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice V.K. Jain, sending the case to NGT, referred to an order of the Supreme Court which said that the courts should desist from hearing the cases pertaining to environmental issues and rather send them to the tribunal which was constituted in 2010.
The court’s direction Wednesday came on a PIL, filed by Sukhdev Vihar Residents Welfare Association, alleging that the Okhla plant burns wastes which releases harmful chemicals into the air.
The plea filed in 2009 said that the people of neighbourhood are falling sick with respiratory and other ailments. It was added that as per the rules, such plants cannot be established near residential areas.
The Delhi government and other authorities earlier had a view that the plant was safe and the state-of-the-art technology has been used and hence, it does not pose a threat either to the people or the environment.