The Supreme Court of India, while slamming the Delhi Civic authorities, has said that the national capital region is facing an emergency like situation with regard to the landfill sites used for dumping garbage due to lack of proper waste management mechanism. In this regard, the Court has also directed the civic agencies including the Municipal Corporations, the State and the Central Government to immediately submit plans for segregation of the waste generated by households in Delhi.

The SC further asked the agencies to submit details regarding the implementation of pilot projects which were launched in areas like Defence Colony, Green Park and Maharani Bagh for household waste management and problems faced in the implementation of the same.

The Court, while referring to the increasing garbage mountains in the city, has said that it is a six-decade-long problem and has been passed to us as a legacy which is making it an even bigger and challenging issue to deal with.

The Lt. Governor, in an affidavit recently filed by him, has stated that garbage management is being addressed through continuous monitoring of the landfill sites and the agencies are on the verge of working out a mechanism for sustainable disposal of the household waste. He further added that the mechanism would aim at closing the sites gradually as well as enhancing the capacity of plants producing energy through waste produce.

Further, the Court slammed the Lt. Governor for not attending the meetings to discuss ways to clean up three major landfill sites situated at Ghazipur, Bhalswa, and Okhla. The meetings were arranged with a senior lawyer appointed to assist the court in this regard.

As carried in LR