The Uttarakhand High Court directed the Commissioner, Kumaun and Commissioner, Garhwal, to hit the ground with the respective District Magistrates falling within their respective jurisdiction, and to make ground surveys, town by town and village by village, to ensure that Solid Waste Management is implemented in true letter and spirit.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice R. C. Khulbe further directed the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court to create an E-mail ID, namely [email protected], which shall be open to the public at large to send their complaints regarding the solid waste, which is collected and not removed in any part of the State, be it within municipal limits, or in rural/forest areas.
On the said E-mail ID, only complaints regarding solid waste, of whatever kind, would be entertained.
“Along with the complaint, the complainant should also upload the photographs to show the collection/ non disposal of solid waste, clearly identifying its location.
“The complainant should clearly provide his/her identity and contact details. The complaints, which are received, shall be perused by the Registrar (Judicial) after 05:00 P.M. every day.
“These complaints shall be printed out, provided they relate to issues regarding solid waste in the State, and not otherwise. The complaints, as received, shall also be forwarded to the respective Commissioners of Kumaun and Garhwal electronically on their respective E-mail IDs, depending on whether the complaint relates to Kumaun or Garhwal region.
“It shall be the responsibility of the respective Commissioners to then take action on the complaints. The Commissioners shall revert within two working days of the complaints being forwarded by the Registrar (Judicial) to inform as to what steps have been taken in respect of the complaints so received.
“It is further directed by the High Court to the State to circulate the aforesaid Email ID in the entire State by publishing the same in daily newspapers and local Doordarshan channels, and encouraging the people to log their complaints with necessary particulars. All the District Magistrates are also directed to ensure the circulation of the said E-mail ID within their respective districts.
“A tabulation of the complaints as well as the response received in regard thereto from the respective Commissioners, shall be placed before the Court by the Registrar (Judicial), before each date of hearing”, the Court ordered.
The matter is listed for November 24, 2022 for further hearing.
It is pertinent to note that on July 7, 2022, the High Court had directed the Uttarakhand State Pollution Control Board to file an affidavit with regard to how many manufacturers, brand owners or importers, have registered themselves with the said Board in terms of Rule 13 of the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016.
Counsel for the State Pollution Control Board was not present in the High Court. Therefore, the High Court directed all the State authorities to ensure strict compliance of the said order, breach whereof would be viewed seriously.
What the Bench found from the various affidavits filed before it was that the various authorities, including the State Level Monitoring Committee, have been issuing paper directions to authorities subordinate to them, particularly to the Urban Local Bodies, and the District Magistrates.
“However, there is no monitoring of the directions being issued, let to find out whether they are being implemented.”
The Court clarified that mere issuance of such directions on paper by the higher authorities cannot be considered as discharge by them of their respective obligations, as it falls on them to ensure that their directions are complied with.
“It is necessary that the higher authorities monitor the implementation of the directions issued by them, by calling for actual reports, and by undertaking site visits and ground surveys. However, that does not appear to have been resorted to at all. The issues we are confronted with cannot be resolved merely by sitting in a closed office room,” observed the Bench.
The Court considered a PIL seeking direction to the respondents to take all immediate and possible steps for implementation of the Uttarakhand Panchayat Solid Waste Management Policy 2017, by developing a robust Plastic Waste Management Mechanism including segregation at the level of village panchayats and urban local bodies, in its letter and spirit, forthwith without any further delay.