NGT takes suo motu cognisance of Express report on garbage crisis in Southeast Delhi

In its order uploaded Thursday, the Tribunal quoted extensively from the news report, which highlighted how delays in municipal decisions have left garbage piling up for days across several colonies.

“The article states that garbage has been left uncollected for many days, causing bad smells and health problems. In Shaheen Bagh, streets that usually have food stalls now smell like rotten trash. The article also mentions that on High Tension Road, also called 40-futta, big garbage piles near homes have many flies around them,” the Tribunal noted in its order.

Citing resident complaints, the NGT recorded: “People say they can’t walk outside without covering their faces, and the bad smell comes inside their houses too.”

The order attributed the garbage crisis to delays in renewing the Rs 900-crore contract with Dakshin Dilli Swachh Initiatives Limited (DDSIL), the private firm handling waste collection. The contract ended in November 2023 and has only been extended temporarily.

The delay, as per the report and noted by the Tribunal, was due to the stalled formation of the MCD Standing Committee, which is needed to approve large financial decisions.

The committee — an 18-member body without whose approval no proposals exceeding Rs 5 crore can be cleared — was recently constituted after a delay of two-and-a-half years.

“The article explains that the delay in forming the MCD Standing Committee… is stopping the contract from being renewed or payments being made. Because of this, DDSIL and MCD have stopped collecting garbage,” the NGT said, adding that councillors and officials quoted in the report had pointed to a shortage of working trucks and no viable solution until the Standing Committee is constituted.

The Tribunal said the matter “raises substantial issues relating to compliance with environmental norms and implementation of the provisions of scheduled enactment,” and may attract provisions of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.

The Tribunal has issued notices to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and the District Magistrate of Southeast Delhi, directing them to submit their responses by October 1.