Uttarakhand for SC stay on order stalling construction work

New Delhi, September 4 

The Uttarakhand Government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking vacation of its order staying construction in some states and UTs saying it was facing a “crisis situation” due to an artificial lake formation in Tehri Garhwal after huge landslides. It told the court that it has framed a revised policy and this will be placed before the Cabinet for approval.

The apex court had slapped a cost of Rs 3 lakh on the Uttarakhand Government on August 31 for not framing the state policy under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. The state told a Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that due to the apex court’s order, construction activities had stopped at a time when the state was facing crisis due to rain and landslides.

The counsel, appearing for Uttarakhand, told the Bench that due to landslides, an artificial lake has been formed in the state and a stay on construction activities should be vacated so that relief measures can be undertaken as lives of people are at risk due to this. The matter was mentioned before the Bench, which said it would hear the issue on Wednesday. 

The state’s counsel told the apex court that they have prepared a revised policy as per the 2016 Rules and it has been cleared by the ministry concerned. “We have prepared the policy. We are facing landslides and an artificial lake has been formed,” the counsel said.

On August 31, the top court had castigated some states and UTs for their “pathetic” attitude in not framing the policy on solid waste management as per the 2016 Rules and had stayed further constructions there till they brought it out. The court had said it was “unfortunate” that states, including Uttarakhand, and UTs had not yet framed any policy under the 2016 Solid Waste Management Rules, even after two years. The issue of waste management had cropped up when the court was dealing with a tragic incident of 2015 in which it had taken cognisance of the death of a seven-year-old boy due to dengue in Delhi. The victim was allegedly denied treatment by five private hospitals here and his distraught parents had subsequently committed suicide. — PTI 

Apex court order

On August 31, the top court had castigated some states, including Uttarakhand, and UTs for their “pathetic” attitude in not framing the policy on solid waste management as per the 2016 Rules and had stayed further constructions there till they brought it out.

The state’s viewpoint

The counsel, appearing for Uttarakhand, told the Bench that due to landslides, an artificial lake has been formed in the state and a stay on construction activities should be vacated so that relief measures can be undertaken as lives of people are at risk due to this.