‘Why can’t you follow Indore?’: HC slaps 25,000 each on UT and MC for non-compliance in Dadu Majra dump case

Expressing concern over the condition of residents living around the dump, the Chief Justice asked the MC whether any compensation was planned for those exposed to pollution and health hazards from the landfill.

“What happens to the residents living around the dump site?” the Chief Justice asked. When the MC counsel said the area was earmarked for dumping in 1989 and that housing came up later, the Bench questioned the civic body’s role in allowing habitation near the site.

Advocate Tanmoy Gupta, appearing for the Chandigarh Administration, said the neighbourhoods predated the Administration’s jurisdiction, with both kaccha and authorised structures coexisting with the dump for decades.

Advocate Amit Sharma appearing in person said records showed the site’s history dating back to 1979, including photographs of a foundation stone laid by Prime Minister Morarji Desai. He said housing for disadvantaged groups had been built nearby and that civic amenities such as a pond and theme park once existed where the dump now stands.

Sharma pointed out that while the MC had assured full clearance by May 31, 2025, the dump still remains. A fire broke out on the very day of the deadline, he said, requiring 1.25 lakh litres of water to extinguish it. Fires, he added, have historically coincided with deadlines, with over 30 incidents annually between 2005 and 2021, consuming more than 4.5 million litres of water in recent years.

The petitioner further alleged that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has repeatedly issued notices to the MC for leachate overflow even as the Corporation disputes photographic evidence of environmental hazards. He also claimed discrepancies in official affidavits and tender reports, alleging irregularities worth several crores in reported waste volumes and financial estimates.

At one point, Chief Justice Nagu asked why the Chandigarh MC was not replicating Indore’s waste management model. “It’s been eight years, and they are the cleanest city in India,” he remarked.

Mohunta responded that the city was on its way to achieving that goal as it was now processing all the waste being generated. The petitioner maintained that accountability for false affidavits would itself expedite remedial steps.

Taking serious note of continued non-compliance, the court observed that neither the MC nor the Chandigarh Administration had filed replies in the prescribed parawise format as required by High Court rules. Advocate Mohunta admitted the lapse and undertook to comply. The Bench then imposed a cost of ₹25,000 each on both the MC and the UT Administration and directed strict adherence to procedural requirements.

The respondents had failed to file parawise replies to an application moved by Sharma seeking an investigation into the submission of a tampered Detailed Project Report (DPR) by the MC and UT Administration on November 16, 2023. The plea alleges that the DPR was prepared by an expert in electrical engineering instead of a waste management specialist and contained over 150 handwritten modifications to financial estimates, creating discrepancies of several crores and violating the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.