SC bans...

A senior state Urban Development Department (UDD) official, who did not wish to be named, said there was a “misunderstanding” over which department – UDD or the environment department -- would file the affidavit in the Supreme Court. “Due to this, the affidavit could not be filed in time. We have a policy in place; all the detailed project reports are ready. In the coming week, we will apologise to the SC for the delay and file the affidavit listing out our entire plan. We will request the SC to lift the ban,” the official said.

According to advocate Colin Gonsalves, who was appointed as the amicus curiae to assist the court in the case, the judges took suo motu cognisance of reports about inadequate solid waste management across states. “On September 8, 2015, a seven-yearold boy died in Delhi due to dengue, after allegedly being denied admission at five private hospitals that left his parents distraught and subsequently committed suicide. SC had taken cognisance of the case, regarding the outrage caused by this, and had asked states over the past two years to frame policies but they failed to do so,” said Gonsalves, adding it was a landmark order. “The Additional Solicitor General had told the court that states were generating large quantities of waste, but were neither segregating nor treating it at source two years after clear guidelines were issued under the SWM Rules, 2016.” The Apex Court had on March 27 taken strong objections to non-implementation of solid waste management rules, and observed that “India will one day go down under the garbage”. During the hearing, it was observed that owing to the loads of garbage in Delhi, people were getting infected by dengue, malaria and chikungunya, while Mumbai was sinking under heavy rainfall.

Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni had told the bench of Justice MB Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta that the environment ministry had sent repeated reminders to states to comply with the provisions of the SWM Rules

HT had reported on August 13 that of the 1.42 lakh tonne municipal solid waste generated every day in India, 21,867 tonnes per day (TPD) is generated from Maharashtra (15%), the highest in the country, as per data from the central government. While the state claims to collect the entire waste it generates, it currently treats only 6,973 TPD, or 32%, of the waste.

“It is an unfortunate that despite repeated reminders states have failed to do their duty,” said Almitra Patel, national waste management expert, who helped draft the SWM Rules, 2016. “The rules are so complete in themselves that states simply need to replicate them, and that itself can be their policy.”

Mumbai-based environmentalists said right to clean environment is akin to right to life. “We salute the SC for this order. The corporations across the state have been working only to help developers and not the common citizens to have a better environment,” said Stalin D, director, NGO Vanashakti.