Supreme Court slams authorities over failure to process municipal solid waste

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, May 13

Slamming the authorities for poor solid waste management in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary to convene a meeting of the authorities concerned to find a solution and place it before the court.

“In the event the authorities fail to come out with any concrete proposals, we will have to consider passing drastic order with a view to take care of the environment in the capital city of Delhi and surrounding areas,” a Bench led by Justice AS Oka said.

Describing it as a “very vital issue” for Delhi, the Bench said there should be no politics over it and posted the matter for further hearing on July 26.

Noting that 3,800 tonnes of solid waste in Delhi and adjoining areas went untreated every day, it termed the situation as “horrifying” and emphasised that it directly affected fundamental rights of citizens under Article 21 to live in a pollution-free environment.

“We hope and trust that all authorities concerned will take the issue with great seriousness as the prima facie impression which we gather is that none of the authorities have bothered to consider the drastic consequences of not having adequate capacity to deal with solid waste generated every day,” it said.

“What the whole world will say. In the capital city of India, 3,800 tonnes of solid waste remain untreated every day as of 2024. What will happen in 2025, what will happen in 2026. Everywhere the situation is horrible,” the Bench said.

Referring to generation of solid waste per day in Gurugram, Faridabad and Greater Noida and the capacity to treat it, the Bench noted that considering the development work taking place in Delhi and surrounding areas, it was obvious that it would increase. Three are huge landfill sites of untreated solid waste at Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur in Delhi.

The MCD’s counsel told the Bench that it would be possible to treat such excess waste only by June 2027 when an additional facility will come into existence.