Karnataka High Court seeks govt response on working of SWM rules

The High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the state government on the implementation of the provisions of the solid waste management rules, 2016. The court issued notice to the government and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board in response to a PIL, regarding the garbage landfill disaster at Pachhanadi in Mangaluru last year.

The PIL filed by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority urged the court to appoint a district judge posted in Mangaluru or any reputed institution to submit a field report on the cause of the disaster at Pachhanadi in 2019. The petition contended that sliding of the landfill in Pachhanadi had damaged more than 18 acres of land.

The petition said several houses and places of worship were buried under solid waste. It sought direction to release Rs 22.4 crore as interim compensation to 50 affected families.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner said though the government had made bylaws and rules for solid waste management, none of them is followed by the municipal administrations.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka said the interim relief sought by the petitioner will be considered in the next date of hearing.

Citing other petitions filed on similar issues from various municipal jurisdictions, the bench orally told the government, “You must tell us whether there is a single authority in the state which has implemented substantially the solid waste management rules of 2016.”