‘Superman’ LG doing nothing on Delhi’s mountain of garbage: SC
You say I have the power, but you do not bother to attend meetings. You think you are a superman; I am responsible but nobody can touch me and I won’t do anything except blaming others
SUPREME COURT BENCH
Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor drew flak from the Supreme Court on Thursday for not taking effective enough measures to handle the Capital’s garbage crisis despite having powers over the municipal corporations.
A bench of justices MB Lokur and Deepak Gupta pulled up the LG after his affidavit asserted that the municipal corporations of Delhi, responsible for garbage collection and disposal, were answerable to him.
The court chided the LG when additional solicitor general Pinky Anand refused to commit on a timeline to clean the garbage and asked for time after seeking adequate instructions from the corporations. The top court said it was shocked to note that nobody from the LG’s office “bothered to attend” meetings on the issue.
“You say I have the power, but you do not bother to attend meetings. You think you are a superman; I am responsible but nobody can touch me and I won’t do anything except blaming others,” the bench said. When Anand said both the LG and the Delhi government were equally responsible, Justice Lokur cut her short: “Do not drag the chief minister here. He has no business is what you have said. Be responsible.”
Delhi generates 10,500 metric tonnes of garbage every day and about 40% of this lands in the city’s four dump sites but 300 metric tonnes remain uncollected. Three of the four landfills have run out of space but there are no alternative sites available to dump Delhi’s garbage. It is estimated that Delhi will be generating 15,000 metric tonnes by 2021.
The bench had on Tuesday asked both the LG and the Arvind Kejriwal-led government to clarify who is responsible for “clearing mountains of garbage in Delhi”. The order came days after the top court’s verdict on the power tussle between the LG and the Delhi government.
The court started monitoring the garbage disposal system across the country in 2015 after it took cognisance of the dengue death of a seven-year-old boy in Delhi. “Why should the corporations be asked? You are the LG. You should have found out by now,” the bench told Anand.
“Tell us how many times he (LG) has issued directions to the civic agencies,” the bench said, terming as “utopian” the ‘state policy on solid waste management strategy’ framed by the LG’s office. “It’s impossible to implement as the corporations do not have the funds.”
“There have been 25 meetings (in the last two years) but there has been no outcome. Delhi is still under a mountain of dumps,” the judges said. Anand attempted to defend the LG by placing a status report on what the corporations had done thus far, only to draw more ire from the judges.
“This is completely vague. Tell us the timeline. Within how much time will you clear the garbage? Do not give us jargon. Tell us in plain, simple English as to how much time will be taken,” Justice Lokur said.