More garbage than land for people in Delhi: HC

The Delhi high court on Friday said there is more garbage than land for people in the national capital, citing photographs in newspapers showing the accumulation of solid waste in various parts of the city.

The court further said a will to work was needed to clean up the city and not funds as claimed by the three municipal corporations who have blamed the Delhi government for not implementing the 4th Finance Commission recommendations.

A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said the court’s orders need to be read first “before we talk of implementation”.

This was said in reference to the hearing held on June 21 when the bench had noted that its orders appeared to have been not read by the commissioners of the three civic bodies. The bench told the three corporations, represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) Sanjay Jain, that if its orders regarding implementation of the 4th Finance Commission recommendations have not been followed by the Delhi government, then a contempt plea can be filed.

The commission was set up in 2009 to review the financial position of the civic agencies and make recommendations on sharing net proceeds of taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied by the Delhi government.

The court also said the rate at which the corporations were legalising the unauthorised constructions, it would soon that all of them would be “financially bust.”

It directed the civic bodies to give a tabulation of the last five years’ progression with regard to the demographic trend, variation in their staff strength and the development of infrastructure.