Supreme Court raps LG Baijal for inaction over Delhi's 'mountains of garbage'

The Supreme Court on Thursday said the "mountains of garbage" in Delhi clearly show that the national capital is facing a serious situation and slammed Lt Governor (LG) Anil Baijal for not taking appropriate action regarding solid waste management.

Citing the ‘mountains of garbage’ at the three landfill sites – Ghazipur, Okhla, and Bhalswa – the apex court stated no action has been taken by authorities, including the office of the LG due to which Delhi was facing the severe pullution problem.

The Delhi government and the office of LG told a bench comprising justices MB Lokur and Deepak Gupta that municipal corporation needs to deal with the issue of solid waste management.

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“This is nothing but passing on the buck,” an anguished bench said.

The court pulled up the LG and said that despite convening 25 meetings on the issue, Delhi was still under “mountains of dumps”.

The bench directed the office of the LG to file an affidavit by July 16 stating the time frame needed to deal with the situation.

The Delhi government and the LG further informed the bench that the LG has the power to issue directions to authorities concerned under the provisions of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act on disposal of solid waste.

On the last date of hearing, the apex court had asked the Centre and the Delhi government to clarify who could be held responsible for clearing the ‘mountain loads of garbage’ in the national capital – those reporting to LG Anil Baijal or to CM Arvind Kejriwal.

The top court’s direction came days after its verdict on the power tussle between the Lieutenant Governor and the Aam Aadmi Party government in which it held that the LG has no independent power to make decisions and is bound by the elected government’s aid and advice.

It had also slapped fines on 10 states and two union territories for not filing their affidavits on their policies for the solid waste management strategy.

(With inputs from agencies)