Garbage dumped ‘beautifully’ on the outskirts: HC

Censuring the state government and the BBMP for Bengaluru’s garbage problem, the high court on Monday noted sarcastically that the civic body was dumping waste “beautifully” on the outskirts of the city. 

A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice S R Krishna Kumar was hearing a PIL petition that has questioned the mismanagement of garbage disposal funds by the BBMP. The petition was filed seven years ago and has seen several interim orders. The final judgement is to be delivered on Tuesday. 

G R Mohan and Ajesh Kumar, the counsels for the petitioners, argued that while the BBMP had been allocating more than Rs 1,000 crore in its budget for garbage disposal, corporators and contractors have colluded to siphon off this money. As a result, solid waste management in the city has become an utter failure, they stated. 

“The BBMP has submitted many false affidavits on solid waste management instead of putting in sincere efforts for the disposal of garbage. The court should dissolve the BBMP council under Section 99 of KMC Act, 1976, for its failure to do its duties’’, they added. 

K N Puttegowda, the counsel for the BBMP, argued forcefully for the civic body but the court observed that the reports submitted by the BBMP, the state government and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) were inconsistent with each other. The BBMP is dumping the waste “beautifully” on the outskirts of the city without obtaining permission from the KSPCB, the judges noted. 

The bench warned the BBMP that it would not hesitate to ban new buildings in the city if the garbage problem is not solved.