[Waste dumping] Karnataka High Court directs BBMP Chief Commissioner to explain non-compliance with court order

The Karnataka High Court on Saturday directed the Chief Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to file a personal affidavit explaining why dumping of mixed solid waste at the Mittaganahalli quarry was permitted in violation of Court's earlier order [Ms Kavit Shankar v. The State of Karnataka]..In a strongly worded order, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice SR Krishna Kumar termed the actions of BBMP Chief Gaurav Gupta a blatant disobedience of the Court's orders. "Even though the Chief Commissioner was conscious of the fact that there is a restraint order of this Court, he committed clear disobedience," the Bench said. .The Karnataka High Court was hearing a batch of petitions dealing with the problem of solid waste management in Bengaluru, and the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Rules. During an earlier hearing, the High Court had noted that only one-third of the total quantity of solid waste in Bengaluru is being processed in accordance with law, and thus two-thirds of municipal solid waste is being illegally dumped. The Solid Waste Management Rules cast duties and obligations on various officers, including the duty to ensure that there is master plan of every city for setting up of solid waste processing and disposal facilities, to identify and allocate suitable land to local bodies to set up processing and disposal facilities for solid waste, etc. .During the last hearing, the Karnataka High Court had directed the Chief Commissioner to appear with relevant records to find out why there was dumping of mixed solid waste at the Mittaganahalli quarry despite a restraint order of the Court. .Senior Advocate Udaya Holla on behalf of the BBMP submitted that the order of the court could not be complied with because of the restrictions bought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bench did not accept this reason, noting that officers seem to think they are above the law and that it was time to take strict action against them. As an unconditional apology was tendered on behalf of the Chief Commissioner, the High Court granted ten days to him to file a personal affidavit before proceeding further, explaining why the restraint order was not complied with and the compelling circumstances due to which waste was still being dumped at the quarry site. .The case will be heard next on March 17.