HC raps corporations’ chiefs for failing Swachh campaign
NEWS SCAN
NEW DELHI: The commissioners of the three municipal corporations on Friday came under fire in Delhi high courtfor reducing Swachh Bharat campaign to “a complete naught” in the capital.HC asked the top officers to appear before it on June 21 and explain why they shouldn’t be hauled up for contempt for “inaction and apathy” by the corporations in keeping the city clean. The court made it clear it won’t entertain any plea for exemption.
“Delhi has to live… some urgency has to be shown,” a bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said, taking note of the “blatant violation of statutory provisions and court orders” by the corporations. It termed as “shocking” that despite repeated concerns raised by court on solid waste collection and disposal, the corporations “have not moved a single step” resulting in a situation where Delhi, which once had the largest per capita forests, “has been consciously converted into an urban slum.”
The court said the corporations “are in complete breach of rights of the citizens under the Constitution apart from the provisions of the DMC Act, civil laws and constitutional duties. Apart from the concerns of health, environment and right to life of the citizens of Delhi, we are also concerned over the wilful violation and disobedience of orders of the courts.” Failure of the corporations doesn’t just invite contempt of court, but has a direct impact on health of citizens, and an “irreversible effect” on the environment, the court observed, slamming the civic agencies for “completely ignoring the right to a clean and healthy environment that is also an Article 21 right.” The bench said the corporations had “ruthlessly and callously” permitted compounding and regularisation of unplanned and unauthorised colonies without first ensuring increase or improvement in civic amenities, such as bigger and greater number of sewage and water lines. It lamented that conversion of residential property for commercial activity was being permitted without first ensuring there is enough space for parking.
The court also noted that not a single decision of disciplinary action has been taken by the corporations against any of their employees and nor has any citizen been penalised for violating municipal laws. It also observed that garbagecollection trucks need to go to the colonies more often.
HC’s directions came after it took cognizance of a TV channel’s news video showed that garbage was not being collected and disposed of from several Delhi colonies for days on end.