L-G in line of SC fire over mounting garbage in Delhi

Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) faced the fury of the Supreme Court on Thursday for failing to act upon the swelling garbage dumping sites posing a health hazard to citizens and a serious threat to  environment.

Days after the apex court vent its ire on the Delhi Government and the Centre asking them to explain who is responsible for resolving the garbage mess in the Capital, both Centre and the Delhi Government filed separate affidavits pointing out that the buck stopped with the L-G.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Ananad submitted before the Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that the responsibility of  waste management and civic bodies rested primarily with the municipal authorities, but it is the L-G who is the final supervising authority.

When the Bench wished to know what steps had been taken in the past three years to fix the problem, Anand replied that the L-G chaired 25 meetings with the concerned authorities to ensure effective disposal of solid waste. But the Bench was not impressed.

Pointing to the heap of garbage at Ghazipur landfill that measured 65 metre, the Bench felt that at this rate, the garbage mountain may soon surpass the 73-metre tall Qutub Minar. The situation has been no better at the other landfill sites at Okhla and Bhalaswa, the Bench noted.

Terming the crisis as “absolutely bizarre”, the Bench said, “Nothing has changed in these years ever since we have been monitoring the matter. He (L-G) says he has all the power like a superman. He even has the authority but he is not doing anything. No one from the L-G office attended the last meeting on waste disposal. This is just passing the buck,” observed the Bench.

“We do not know what the use of power is when he (L-G) is not doing anything. He has to act and not just convene meeting,” the court said.

After looking at the policy on “Solid Waste Management Strategy” prepared by the office of the L-G, the Bench said it was “utopian” and observed it will be impossible to implement it as the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) do not have funds even to carry out their day-to-day affairs.

“We find it rather surprising that due to shortage of funds, parts of Delhi will be converted into dump sites,” the Bench added. Giving time till Monday, the Bench directed the Centre and L-G to brace up efforts and prepare a time-bound action plan to rid the city from the mounting garbage crisis.