High Court wants waste ‘segregated’ right at its source

Voicing their concern over the poor waste management in the city, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the municipal corporations and district councils across the state to make mandatory the practice of segregating wet and dry waste at its source.

A division bench of Justice Vidyasagar Kanade and Justice Swapna Joshi were hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pune-based Dr Harshwardhan Modak.

The PIL had drawn the bench’s attention to the failure of the Pune Municipal Corporation in managing solid waste.

While hearing the petition, the bench noted that the only way to effectively dispose of waste is to segregate dry and wet waste at the respective source. The bench said, “Waste should be segregated into dry and wet at its source like residential buildings, homes, hotels, restaurants etc. This is the only way to address this issue.”

Pointing at the frequent fires at Deonar dumping ground, the bench said, “There have been several instances of fire erupting at the Deonar dump yard in city. The installation of solid waste disposal plants would not be sufficient to manage waste; rather it is necessary to make segregation of dry and wet waste mandatory. This will also

make the segregation work easier at the dump yards.” The bench also said that the corporators should take this matter seriously and act accordingly for public welfare. The bench has directed the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the PMC to file an affidavit, spelling out the steps it has taken till date for implementation of waste (wet and dry) segregation. The matter will be next heard on September 7.