Legal Challenges In Hazardous Waste Management And Cleanup: Navigating Complexities And Ensuring Environmental Justice
- IJLLR Journal
- May 1
- 1 min read
Updated: May 8
Ponniyin Selvan M, Vellore Institute of Technology (Chennai)
Arun D Raj, Assistant Professor, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai
ABSTRACT
The growing industrial sector in India creates substantial obstacles for managing the expanding amount of complicated hazardous waste produced in the country. The study investigates Indian hazardous waste management laws using both the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 as the main analysis point. The research investigates major legal intricacies regarding implementation methods as well as enforcement requirements and liability distribution according to the Polluter Pays Principle and environmental justice inclusion. A comprehensive evaluation of the paper examines on-ground situations by analysing official reports and Supreme Court and NGT decisions along with academic research to highlight legislative-to-practical inconsistencies. Inadequate treatment facilities and disposal frameworks together with difficulties in monitoring compliance and waste identification and tracking as well as hazardous site representation near disadvantaged groups are examined. The study includes examples that demonstrate legal structures and institutional frameworks affect the outcomes of remediation work and public access to judicial systems. The paper ends by suggesting recommendations to enhance regulatory supervision and better enforcement practices and liability definition alongside public involvement opportunities and interagency cooperation for sustainable hazardous waste management within the principles of environmental justice in India.