Delhi HC blames excessive regularization for capital’s garbage problem

The Delhi High Court yesterday slammed the MCD and the Delhi Government for excessive regularization of illegal colonies. The Court noted that the same leads to creation of unmanageable waste, which in turn leads to diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya..The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar observed,.“EDMC is ruthlessly regularizing unauthorized colonies. Now you (MCD) realize the problem? While taking care of the right to shelter of some, the right to life of so many citizens is being compromised. Why should the citizens suffer from diseases like dengue, chikungunya when MCD is unable to ensure cleanliness?”.The Court also asked the East Delhi MCD Commissioner about the lessons that he had learnt while on his trip abroad. In the last hearing, it was informed to the Court that the Commissioner had gone to Stockholm to acquire knowledge regarding waste disposal systems..The Commissioner submitted that waste is considered as a resource in the developed countries..“They extract bio gas from the waste produced. Around 70% of the buses run on bio gas which is extracted from waste. They have set up sewage treatment plants, waste treatment plants etc. They have modern systems for segregation of waste. There are separate places to dump combustible and hazardous waste. Also there is strong public participation. There are strict rules on how to process waste. Most of the garbage is underground.”.The Commissioner further submitted that the MCD does not have sufficient land for garbage disposal and that funds are inadequate. He also stated that around 90% of the area under EDMCD has unauthorized construction..The Court assured the MCD that they will provide them with adequate land once they come up with an action plan. The Court also directed them to take instructions from the Ministry of Urban Development..Appearing for the Delhi Government, Sanjay Ghose submitted that the funding is indeed inadequate..The Court asked the Delhi Government whether they were getting funds under the Swachh Bharat scheme. Further the Court asked how many karamcharis and dhalauns (garbage dumps) were there. To this, the EDMCD Commissioner replied that there are about 300 dhalauns, 15, 000 workers and about 17 open dumping sites..The Bench then observed,.“These are more than enough. The only reason why the city is not clean is that either the workers are not doing their duties or they are not being assigned the work properly. They should be assigned their duties appropriately and action must be taken against those who do not carry out these duties effectively…..The easiest way to evade blame is to claim that there is no money.”.The Court also directed the authorities to take action against those who are found littering and throwing garbage at inappropriate places.