“You Keep Saying We Will Do This And That. But Do Nothing”, SC Pulls Up Delhi Govt Over Solid Waste Management

The Supreme Court today pulled up the Delhi government for its failure to come up with specific proposal to deal with the issue of solid waste management.

“You keep on saying we will do this we will do that but when are you going to do it. What you are showing is all discussions”, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and Deepak Gupta told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand who was representing the Delhi government’s Chief Secretary.

“You can go on and on and on and on. We are seeing that minutes of 2018 meeting have the details of what was discussed in the 2016 meeting. What is this going on? Tell us when are you going to give us the specifics” the bench asked.

The remarks came after the bench went through the minutes of the January 12 meeting of a committee.

Anand then remarked: “We are looking into it.Several proposals are under consideration. Kindly give some time to furnish further details".

Anand sought four weeks time and said they have to get details from the municipal corporations of Delhi (MCDs) also.

The court had on October 21 last year rapped the Delhi government for not doing enough to dispose of the huge quantity of waste and rather dumping it on landfill sites which were already overflowing.

It had also asked the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators to create awareness about garbage disposal among the people

“Garbage mounds near landfill sites are above 45 metres. These are almost like towers as like Qutub Minar. Height of Qutub Minar is 73 metres and these mounds are more than half the size. It's an alarming situation. Who is going to deal with it? You (government) have to deal with the problem”, the bench had said.

The observations had come when Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar appearing for Delhi Chief Secretary pointed out that near three landfill sites at Okhla, Gazipur and Bhalswa, there are garbage mounds of the height of 45 metres.

The bench asked Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra that the AAP had MLAs across Delhi who could create awareness among the people about garbage disposal.

The court directed MLAs of Okhla, Gazipur and Bhalswa areas to attend meetings with all stakeholders, also enquired about how much amount each MLA get for local area development does. It was informed that each MLA got Rs 4 crore as local area development fund.