“Be Serious, Make It A Model For Other Metros”, SC Green Signal To LG Panel For Clearing Delhi’s Garbage Mountains

Giving the green signal to the experts committee under principal secretary of Delhi Government's urban development department to draw a plan to clear the landfill sites at Ghazipur, Bhalaswa and Okhla, the Supreme Court today directed them to hold their first meeting next Tuesday.

The panel has been asked to meet for five days in the first two weeks

A bench of justices Madan B Lokur, Deepak Gupta and Abdul Nazeer asked the panel to take the matter seriously and in a dedicated manner so that it could serve as a model for cleanliness of other metropolitian cities.

“Principal Secretary of Delhi Government’s Urban Development ministry will chair the expert committee meeting and they shall take the issue seriously. The committee will meet first two weeks on a daily basis. Let the first meeting be held next Tuesday”, the bench told Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand who represented the Lt Governor

We expect the committee to take up the matter seriously and in a dedicated manner so that it can serve as a model not only for cleanliness of metropolitan city like Delhi but also for other metropolitan cities, the bench said.

The bench had earlier raised doubts if the too “high-level” committee approved by Lt Governor Anil Baijal to frame a “workable and implementable policy” to clear the dumpsites in Gazipur, Bhalaswa and Okhla will be effective and can meet daily.

Justice Lokur told Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand who represented the LG: “We want the committee being constituted to meet everyday at least for two weeks.  But some of these people in your list are so important and have a busy schedule that we do not think they can meet even very often …forget every day”,

The court had on August 17 asked the LG to constitute a panel of experts and RWA members.

Remark came after the bench noted that the panel government proposed had very top level persons like Principal Secretary Urban Development (Delhi govt), Additional Secretary in Urban Development ministry, NDMC Chairperson, Commissioners of South, North and East MCD, an IIT Delhi professor, Director of solid waste management ministry of science and technology, V K Jindal, Mission Director (Swachh Bharat Mission) Govt of India. Manoj Gangeya, Director Ministry of Environment and Forests and Directors of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) andNational Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) besides RWA members.

On August 6, continuing to slam Delhi civic authorities for having no action plan regarding solid waste management even as landfill sites were overflowing, the bench said the national capital was facing an emergency-like situation due to mountains of garbage

“How do people live? Will there be any person alive in Delhi in such a situation? the bench asked lawyers for civic agencies – municipal corporations, Delhi government and the centre.

It wanted immediate plans be submitted on segregation of household waste.

It sought details from authorities on a pilot project for segregation of household waste launched in some areas like Defence Colony, Green Park and Maharani Bagh here and also about the problems being faced by the agencies in its implementation.

When ASG Pinky Anand said that in East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), the issue of having a landfill site at Sonia Vihar was being opposed by residents of the area, Justice Lokur had asked “Are you suggesting that people cannot raise this issue like what was done in 1975 that if you ask something, you will be put in jail?”