The Apex Court pulled up the Aam Aadmi Party-controlled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Friday for not paying attention to the problem of untreated solid waste in the national capital. Highlighting that over 3000 tonnes of solid waste remain untreated daily, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed astonishment over MCD’s plan to clear the waste by December 2027. The court’s remarks came during the hearing of a case filed against air pollution in the national capital.
On an earlier occasion, the court asked the Delhi government to submit an affidavit by January 15, 2025, outlining measures to prevent fires and mitigate environmental harm at these sites. While going through the affidavit today, the court asked the MCD as to where it was dumping the 3000 tonnes of waste daily. Questioning the claims of the MCD to get rid of all the waste by 20277, the court said, “You don’t say where the 3000 tonnes of untreated solid waste goes. You have made a tall promise that by 2027 it will be cleared, and you have not accounted for 3000 tonnes of dumping. You must file an affidavit stating where you’re dumping 3000 tonnes of solid waste every day because the affidavit is completely silent. Just see the brazen manner in which the affidavit is filed”.
Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for MCD, referred to a judgment passed by a bench led by Justice Gavai regarding the solid waste management to which, she assured, the Delhi government would comply by December 2027. Guruswamy highlighted that the present matter is related to the issue of fires occurring at dump sites. She said that the Delhi government would answer the issue relating to solid waste management on January 27 when the issue will come up for hearing.
The court also criticised the central government, represented by Addl. Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, asking it ‘not to shut its eyes’ towards the serious issue. “How can the Union of India remain silent? What action does it want to take? The Union of India can’t close its eyes. they should take action against whosoever is not performing. In the capital city, this is happening. What we propose to do is that we will pass an order putting restrictions on new constructions”, the court remarked. Highlighting the urgency of the matter, the court said, “Such issues will have to be dealt with in drastic manner only. Construction will create more waste that cannot be dealt with. So the 3000 tonnes will go up to 5000 tonnes within no time”.
Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh, amicus curiae, informed the court that the Union and the Delhi governments were not coordinating, to which the court said, “We will make them coordinate”. Senior Advocate Singh also suggested that the MCD should take on multiple agencies, instead of just one, to clear the 45 metric tonnes of legacy waste as soon as possible.
