Journalism of Courage
Comply with waste management rules or face power, water supply cut: Supreme Court
On BWGs, the court said, “The objective of (the) communication... is to enable” them “to set up required facilities in place and to report online compliance to the local bodies for inspection and forwarding the report to the District Collector(s).”
On Tuesday, the court was informed that the SCMC, giving full effect to the orders of the “Court read with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, has communicated, initiated, and put in place the Statutory Committees for the implementation and enforcement of the” Rules.
BULK WASTE Generators (BWGs), which fail to comply with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, can face temporary disconnection of power or water supply until they submit a compliance certificate.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the committee set up on its orders to monitor the implementation of the Rules, to take steps to direct District Collectors to identify all BWGs “within their respective jurisdictions, in cooperation with the Local Bodies, within six weeks” and inform them about the consequences of non-compliance.
A bench of Justices S V N Bhatti and N V Anjaria said, “Every local body shall, through its Chairman/Commissioner/Secretary, as directed by the jurisdictional District Collector, communicate in writing to every BWG within its limits the obligations viz, (i) segregation, storage and handover of solid waste generated; and (ii) the consequence of non-compliance resulting in the temporary disconnection of water and electricity supply by order of the District Collector’s Special Cell, restorable upon submission of a compliance certificate by the BWG.”
On BWGs, the court said, “The objective of (the) communication… is to enable” them “to set up required facilities in place and to report online compliance to the local bodies for inspection and forwarding the report to the District Collector(s).”
It also asked the Supreme Court-empowered Monitoring Committee (SCMC) “to focus on water pollution from Municipal Solid Wastes/Materials to Rivers and place before the Court data for further directions”.
The court stressed the need to educate school and college students to enrol their family members for the implementation of the Rules, and directed that “the Department of School and Higher Education shall, with immediate effect, integrate both theoretical and practical knowledge on Solid Waste Management for students to train their family members, and also train teachers as trainers.” It added that “the trained students would function as household-level supervisors”.
The “trained students would function as household-level supervisors”, it said and added that “an educated child is the most effective and least coercive instrument for educating a parent or a relative for the implementation of Solid Waste Management.” The court also called for periodic audits to be conducted by the District Education Departments, and reports to the jurisdictional District Collectors.
Story continues below this ad
Noting that a portal for reporting waste accumulation and monthly compliance reports is already in place, the bench asked authorities to consider including geotagged photographs in it.
On March 25, the top court had directed the Centre to constitute a SCMC comprising the Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development and The Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board, for the implementation of Rules.
On Tuesday, the court was informed that the SCMC, giving full effect to the orders of the “Court read with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, has communicated, initiated, and put in place the Statutory Committees for the implementation and enforcement of the” Rules.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Advertisement
Loading Recommendations...
Advertisement
Live Blog
Advertisement