The Meghalaya High Court has directed that the State should also ensure that the Jowai Municipal Board adheres to the schedule and that there is no piling up of garbage or waste at any place in Jowai, till such time that the waste disposal unit is commissioned.
Once the relevant unit becomes functional, the State, in conjunction with the Jowai Municipal Board, will work out modalities for waste from different parts of the Jowai town to be reached to the unit and places where local residents and commercial entities may dump their waste for such waste to be ferried to the disposal unit.
Such plan should be chalked out in course of the next month so that it can be implemented from day one of the commissioning of the unit.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed with complaints of household waste and general garbage not being collected in the Jowai urban township area from February 4, 2022.
On October 19 , the petitioner is represented and submits that despite the previous orders of the Court, there has been irregular collection of waste, particularly from residents in Jowai. The Jowai Municipal Board, however, says that the schedule indicated earlier is being adhered to.
From the last order , the Court noted that the 10-TPD solid waste-management system, according to the State, had been completed to the extent of 70 per cent by then. Earlier reports filed by the State indicated that the waste disposal unit would be ready by the end of this calendar year.
Additional Advocate-General says that there is no delay in such regard and it is hoped that the waste disposal unit would be functional by the end of this year or, at the latest, within a week thereafter.
Since the monsoon has now officially retreated from the State and there is less likelihood of the collected waste at any place flowing down, the health hazards that had been apprehended earlier may no longer be a risk.
However, the Jowai Municipal Board, which has been somewhat lacking in its performance, should ensure that the schedule submitted in Court is strictly adhered to and waste is collected both from residential and commercial units till such time that a new system is put in place upon the waste disposal unit being commissioned, the Bench directed.
The Court held that the petition have worked itself out. However, if there is any deficiency on part of the Jowai Municipal Board, the petitioner or any other person affected may approach the Court.