Allowed

Vijay Laxmanrao Dak and Others v. the Union of India and Others

Bombay HC9 Mar 2018PIL/33/2018

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Public interest litigation by villagers and gram panchayat office-bearers against the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation's three-decade-old practice of dumping untreated municipal solid waste at Gut Nos.78 and 79 of village Mandki. The court held the dumping violated Article 21 and environmental statutes and directed the site's closure, scientific restoration, an enquiry and clean drinking water.

What did the court decide?

Prohibited further dumping at Gut Nos.78 and 79, Mandki; directed scientific closure of the Naregaon dump, restoration of the site, an enquiry by the Chief Secretary and supply of clean drinking water

Vijay Laxmanrao Dak and Others Vs the Union of… — Environment and Pollution | Bombay HC (2018)

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pil33.18

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

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BENCH AT AURANGABAD

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PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO.33 OF 2018

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1)Vijay Laxmanrao Dak
Age : Major, Occ : Sarpanch,
At Mandki Post : Palsi,
Tq. Dist. Aurangabad
Mob. 9767961940
Adhar No. 7507588337918.

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2) Datta S/o Jijaba Bhesar Age : 42 years, Occ : Sarpanch, R/o At Post : Parishi, Mandhaki, Tq : Dist : Aurangabad Mob. 8390128011 Adhar No. 783337686764.

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3) Mangal Kapurchand Ghunet Age : 45 years, Occ : Sarpanch, R/o : At Post : Varur Kaij, Tq. Dist : Aurangabad Mob. 9172150404 Adhar No. 593523515896.

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4)Bhausaheb Laxman Gayke
Age : 36 years, Occ : Social Worker,
R/o At Post: Palashi,
Tq. Dist : Aurangabad
Mob. 9923315131
Pan No. ANLPG3278N.

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5)Sunil S/o Motilal Harme
Age : 38 years, Occ : Sabhapati,
Panchayat Samiti (Aurangabad),
R/o At Post. Pokhri,
Tq. Dist. Aurangabad, Mob. 88064831111
Pan No. ACBPH7367Q.

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6)Anil S/o Ramesh Hirde
Age : 25 years, Occ : Up Sarpanch,
Gopalpur
R/o Gopalpur, Palshi (Shahar),
Tq. Dist. Aurangabad
Mo. 8623952353,
Adhar No. 893500706723,
Pan : AQTPA5213P.
7)Agaji S/o Laxman Ambhore
Age : 52 years, Occ : Social Worker,
R/o: At Post : Mahal Pimpri, Post : Kaij,
Tq. Dist. Aurangabad
Mo. 9422709495
Aadhar : 840487470028
8)Rameshwar K. Late
Age : 40 Occu : Social worker,
R/o Mahd Pimpri Post : Kaij,
Tq. Dist. Aurangabad
Mo. 9823297088
Aadhar No. 425426581171
9)Amol S/o Tejrao Kakde
Age: 37 years, Occ : Sarpanch
R/o : At Pokhri Post : Palshi (Sahar),
Tq. Dist. Aurangabad
Mob. No.9146705111
Pan No. CUAPK6960K.
10)Pundlik Trimbak Ambhore
Age : 60 years, Occu : Ex Sarpanch
Mahalpimpri,
R/o: At Mahalpimpri Post : Warudkazi,
Tq. Dist. Aurangabad
Mo. 9423745365
Aadhar No. 567692119749.
...PETITIONERS
 VERSUS

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`1)`	`The Union of India`
	`(Through its Secretary)` `Ministry of Environment,`
	`Forest and Climate Change` `Indira Paryavaran Bhavan,` `Jorbagh Road, New Delhi – 110 003`
`2)`	`The State of Maharashtra` `(through its Chief Secretary),` `Mantralaya, Mumbai-32.`
`3)`	`The Principal Secretary` `Environment Department,` `Mantralaya, Mumbai-32.`
`4)`	`The Principal Secretary,` `Public Health Department,` `Mantralaya, Mumbai – 32.`
`5)`	`The Principal Secretary,` `Uraban Development Department,` `Mantralaya, Mumbai-32.`
`6)`	`Maharashtra Pollution Control Board,` `Sion, Mumbai – 400 051.`
`7)`	`The Commissioner,` `Aurangabad Municipal Corporation,` `Aurangabad.`
`8)`	`The District Collector,` `Aurangabad.`
`9)`	`The Commissioner of Police,` `Aurangabad.`
`10)`	`Civil Aviation Ministry,` `Through it's, Secretary,` `Government of India,` `Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan,` `New Delhi.`

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11)Airport Authority of India
Through it's Chairman,
Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan,
Safdarjang Airport,
New Delhi.

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...RESPONDENTS

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 ...
 Miss. Pradnya S. Talekar Advocate i/b. Talekar
 and Associates for Petitioners.
 Mr.S.B. Deshpande, Assistant Solicitor
 General of Respondent Nos. 1, 10 and 11
 Mr.A.B. Girase, Government Pleader for
 Respondent Nos.2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9.
 Mr.M.M. Nerlikar Advocate for Respondent No.6.
 Mr.R.S. Deshmukh Advocate for Respondent No.7.
 ...

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CORAM: S.S. SHINDE AND

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 S.M. GAVHANE, JJ.

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DATE OF RESERVING JUDGMENT : 6TH MARCH, 2018

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 DATE OF PRONOUNCING JUDGMENT: 9TH MARCH, 2018

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JUDGMENT [PER S.S. SHINDE, J.]:

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1.This Petition is filed with the following
prayers :-

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“A.To direct to permit inspection of all

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records available with the respondent No.7
corporation as regards to the arrangements

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made, expenses incurred and sanitary and
hygienic problems posed by improper
disposal of solid waste by the Aurangabad
Municipal Corporation, by issuing a writ of
mandamus or any other appropriate writ,

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order or direction as the case may be;

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B.To direct the Municipal Corporation,
Aurangabad to remove all the waste on the
surface and filled below the land surface
at Government gairan land situate at Gut
No.78 and 79 village Mandki, by issuing a
writ of mandamus or any other writ of the
like nature;

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C.To direct the respondents to ensure
that no new solid, dry or wet waste is
permitted to be dumped for disposal on the
land situate at Gut No.78 and 79 village
Mandki, by issuing a writ, order or
direction as the case may be;

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D.To set up a team of experts from a

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reputed technology institute for rendering
scientific assistance with regard to
removal of the waste dump and restoration
of the land situate at Gut No. 78 and 79
villageMandkitohabitable

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characteristics.

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E. To direct the respondents to take

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necessary measures after consultation with
bio-tech and scientific agencies including
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to
reverse the environment impact caused to
the land situate at Gut No.78 and 79
villave Mandki and its adjoining area due
to the dumping.

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F.To direct an inquiry to fix

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responsibility and institute criminal
proceeding for offences committed under the
IPC,BombayProvincialMunicipal

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Corporation Act, 1949 as also the Aircraft

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Act, 1934 against responsible officers of
the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation and
State Government and also for flagrant
violation of the statutory obligations, by
issuing a writ of mandamus or any other
writ of the like nature;

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G.To direct the Municipal Corporation to
send proposal of alternative site for Solid

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Waste Disposal in accordance with the
provisions of several statutes and rules
framed thereunder to concerned departments

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within a period of four weeks, and further
direct the respondent No.1 to ensure that
new site for disposal of wastes is searched
and selected, necessary land and grants for

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processingandtreatmentofwaste
generation within Aurangabad Municipal area
are made available within a time bound

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schedule, by issuing a writ of mandamus or
any other writ of the like nature;

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I. To direct the Municipal Corporation to

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ensure implementation of the guidelines
issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and
this Hon'ble High Court as well as Rules of
2016 with regard to segregation of waste by
evolving a strict policy of monitoring and
imposing penalty against wrongdoers.

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K.Direct the respondents to grant free

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full body medical checkup to all residents
of the 5 villages based on the gram
panchayatvotinglistandgrant
compensation commensurate to the ill-
effects to their health, by issuing a writ
of mandamus.

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L.Direct the respondent No.7 to provide
clean drinking water to the villages of
Pokhri, Mandki, Mahalpimpri, Gopalpur and

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Palsi from the AMC pipe line passing
through these, by issuing a writ of
mandamus or any other necessary order,

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writ, direction as the case may be.

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2.It is stated by the Petitioners in the
Petition that they are residents of addresses
mentioned in the title cause. They are
representing thousands of villagers of Petitioner
Gram Panchayats against the illegalities committed
by Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (for short
"AMC") in dumping solid waste without processing
and treating, at the land bearing Gut Nos. 78 and
79 situate at village Mandki. The Petitioners are
acting as pro bono publico. It is also stated that

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the Petitioner Nos.1 to 5 are the office bearers
of the Gram Panchayat of villages of Mandki,
Gopalpur, Pakhri and Mahalpimpri and Petitioner
Nos.6 to 10 are reputed persons and social workers
residing at the villages adjoining the land
bearing Gut Nos.78 and 79 which is used as dumping
ground for solid waste generated in AMC limits.
None of the Petitioners have any criminal
antecedents.

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3.It is submitted that the Petitioners have
made several representations to the Respondent
authorities for redressal of their grievances in
last 35 to 40 years, however, the Respondent
authorities and in particular Respondent No.7 have
utterly failed to redress their grievances and
therefore this Petition is filed.

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4.The brief facts leading to file the
Petition, in brief, are as under :-

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(A)The entire area of the AMC is 138 sq. km.

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which is divided in 8 zones and 83 wards.
Aurangabad is one of the largest growing cities in
the State in as much as the population has nearly
doubled from 1991 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2011 as
is evident from the census report. The development

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in industries in pharmaceuticals, auto, spare
parts etc as well as the urban migration has led

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to a troubling increase in the solid waste
generation in the city.

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(B)At present the daily solid waste

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generation is nearly 400 MT out of which 160 MT is
domestic waste whereas the rest is commercial and
industrially generated. Nearly 61% of this waste
is bio-degradable whereas the rest is either
construction material, metal, plastic or glass.
These details of the current solid waste
generation of Aurangabad Municipal region are
evident from the statistics maintained and
recorded in a proforma by the National Solid Waste
Association of India (NSWAI) as well as a research
paper published in 2016 issue of IOSR Journal of
Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE).

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(C)Proper solid waste disposal in compliance

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with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 or
Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling)
rules, 2000 is not carried out by the AMC whereas
the entire waste is only being dumped for decades
together in a dumpyard situate at Gut No.78 and 79
of the village Mandki which is Government Gairan

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land at stone throw away from the habitation of

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villages of Mandki, Gopalpur, Pakra, Mahalpimpri
and Palashi.

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(D)Prior to 1980's the entire solid waste of

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the municipal region of Aurangabad was dumped at a
site at City Naka behind Mahatma Gandhi Mission
College. However, after 1980-81, the planning
authority shifted the dumpyard to Gut No.4 in
village Naregaon which was then outside the
municipal limits of Aurangabad. In less than 2
years, when the Municipal Council was transformed
into a Corporation subsuming within it many sub-
urban areas, the gram panchayat of Naregaon was
also subsumed in the Aurangabad Municipal
Corporation. Immediately thereafter, a decision
was taken to shift the dumpyard few kilometers
away from the then site at Gut No.4, village
Naregaon to take it beyond the city limits of AMC.
It was then that the 50 acre Government gairan
land situate at Gut No.78 and 79 in Mandki village
was targeted by the AMC for dumping the entire
waste of the city.

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(E)It has been more than 35 years since the

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entire waste generated in the municipal limits of
the AMC is merely collected by the AMC and dumped
at the 50 acres land situate at Gut No.78 and 79
in village Mandki.

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(F)The Rules of 2000 as well as Rules of

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2016 mandate that the disposal of solid waste has
to involve various stages of collection,
segregation, processing and treatment to ensure
limited impact on environment. It is mandatory for

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the planning authority to get a site identified
and approved from the Ministry of Environment and
Ministry of Urban Development Department after
clearance from the Maharashtra Pollution Control
Board to use a site as Solid Waste Land-fill (SWL)
or as Solid waste treatment plant.

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(G)Public Interest Litigation No. 152/2016 was

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filed seeking shifting of the dump-yard from
Naregaon to another site, the Regional Officer of

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the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB),
submitted his affidavit-in-reply to this Court
stating that the Municipal Commissioner,
Aurangabad Municipal Corporation has not obtained
necessary authorization from the board and also
not provided any facility for Municipal Solid
Waste Management (and handling) Rules, 2000.

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(H)The 73rd and 74th amendment to the
Constitution of India introduced a system of local
self governance and led to decentralisation of
power and trickling down of decision making to the

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people and their direct representatives. Thus it
is under the constitutional scheme of self-
governance and decentralisation of power that
institutions such as the Gram Panchayat were
constituted and empowered to collect taxes and

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take representative decisions for the people
living in the area of the local body.

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(I)The land situate at Gut No. 78 and 79 of

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the village Mandki is within the gram panchayat

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area of Mandki village and the same is gairan land
to be used for grazing of milking animals and
livestock of the villagers of Mandki. However, the
same is being illegally used as dump-yard for
solid waste generated within the AMC limits, that
too without obtaining necessary no-objection from
the Gram Panchayat.

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(J)The present dump-yard is less than 4 kms

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from the Aurangabad Airport which has daily 3-4
flights. The Airport Authority of India Act, 1994,
the Aircraft Act, 1934 and Aircraft Rules 1937

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mandate that the solid waste shall not be
accumulated in vicinity of the Airport so as to
prevent hovering of vultures and other scavenging
birds or smog from the burning of waste leading to
flight accidents. Under section 10 (1A) of the
Aircraft Act 1934 contravention of Rule 81-B of
the Aircraft Rules 1937 is punishable offence. A

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notice in that regard had been issued by the
Airport Authority of India on 11.01.1997 and
published in Times of India.

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(K)Thus it is clear that the AMC is

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illegally dumping entire solid waste generated in
the Aurangabad municipal limits in the 50 Acre
site near village Mandki and Gopalpur, without
necessary approvals under the law.

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5. The Submissions made by the learned counsel
appearing for the Petitioner, can be stated as
follows:

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(a)The dumping of the solid waste for

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decades together without any processing or

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treatment in a residential area not even a stone
throw away from thick habitation of nearby
villages, has already poses fatal health hazards
to the villagers.

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(b)For more than 40 years the solid waste

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including industrial and hospital/medical waste is
being dumped in the land adjoining the villages of

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the petitioner gram panchayats and piled up in

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garbage mountains 70-80 ft height running into 15
kms of stretch. The garbage being stagnant for
decades together has become like sedimentary rocks
and is constantly put ablaze when new waste is
dumped. So the monstrously large garbage mountains

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are set ablaze to emit poisonous fumes and
fugitive gases. So also, the large amount of waste
filled in the land by digging out 10 acres of pits
in plastic has caused severe contamination of
water leading to serious water borne diseases.

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(c)Constant contact with contaminated air
and water has led to serious health issues to all
villagers residing in the petitioner gram
panchayats including weak lungs and liver. Not
only that but it is also leading to birth of
deformed and malnourished and ill-immunized

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children raising the child mortality ratio.

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(d)The serious ill effects of the constant
exposure to contaminated air and water has
medically changed the hormonal and blood

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constitution of the villagers in the petitioner
gram panchayats and is bound to have an ill-effect
on their future generations as well.

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(e)Such illegal action by the AMC is the

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brutalest violation of human rights of the class
of people who do not have a strong voice and a
grave pity to our democratic governance.

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(f)The petitioners have been fighting this
situation and standing up against the illegalities
committed by the AMC for more than 30 years now,
however, in vain.

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(g)The petitioners have made several

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representations, conducted meetings with political
leaders, government officials and AMC personnel,
and undertaken protests, however, to no avail.

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(h)Few of the petitioners have been

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personally involved in the movement since last 25

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years in which they have made it a purpose of

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their life to stop the brutalities in trampling
the survival needs of the villagers and their
future generations by accumulating thousands of
tonnes of solid waste emitting fugitive gas fumes
and contaminating the ground-water leading to
deformed and malnourished children and causing
fatal health hazards to the villagers.

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(i)A mass scale protest was conducted by the
villagers of the petitioner gram panchayats nearly

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25 years earlier, when it was assured that
immediate action will be taken by the AMC to
initiate a processing and treatment plant at the
writ land. The said initiative was allotted to one
Satyam Fertilizer Company run by one Satyanarayan
Chandak which constructed a treatment plant at the
site to re-use the bio-degradable waste. However,
it was a hoax only to grab the subsidy made
available by the Central Government and the same
was closed down in less than 2 years time.

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(j)

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Thereafter again in the year 2010-11, the

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AMC had spent nearly INR 10 Cr to undertake land
filling at the writ land wherein 2 large pits of 5
acre each were dug out and most of the waste was
filled under the ground in plastic. The work was
undertaken by the Mule builders and no procedure

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for landfilling including segregation and
processing was followed rather the entire waste
was mechanically dumped under the ground further
affecting the contamination levels of the ground-
water and soil.

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(k)In 2013 another mass protest was

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undertaken by the villagers wherein the Municipal
Corporation had assured that the waste is going to
be shifted to an alternate site and the same is at
the last stage of finalization.

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(l)In October 2017, the villagers of

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petitioner gram panchayats had come together and

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blocked the trucks and tractors with solid waste
from dumping it in the writ land. This protest and

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blocking continued for 3 days after which a

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settlement was reached wherein the AMC had assured
that it would shift the dumpyard to alternate site
within a period of 3 months. When the same was not
completed even after a period of 3 months, the
villagers have restarted the protest and blocked
the trucks and tractors from dumping the solid
waste at writ land since 16.02.2018. Since the
last 10 days, the entire solid waste from the
municipal limits of Aurangabad is being stored at
several places in the city and not dumped in the
land situated at Gut No. 78 and 79 at village
Mandki. It is owing to this situation that a
petition was filed by one Rahul Kulkarni seeking
direction from this High Court that the waste
shall be dumped at ‘appropriate place’.

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(m)There is immense pressure on the AMC to

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remove the waste from the city limits and it does
not have an alternate site to be used as dump-
yard, thus the AMC is creating untellable pressure
on the petitioners to withdraw its protest and
allow continuation of dumping of solid wastes at

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land bearing Gut No. 78 and 79 in village Mandki,
so much so that the Petitioners were threatened by
the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to withdraw the
protest or suffer serious consequences including
physical danger to their lives. A complaint
detailing the horrifying account of a Government
official meting out threats to the Petitioners was
made to the Police Station In-charge, Chikalthana
Aurangabad on 02.02.2018.

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(n)Not only the present generations of the
villagers residing in the 4 gram panchayats
adjoining the land bearing Gut No. 78 and 79
situate at Mandki are suffering from the serious
health ailments owing to constant exposure to
contaminated air and water, but their future
generations may be affected owing to passing of
genetic defects and has increased child mortality
rates in the region.

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(o)The intentional pollution of clean
environment of villages for selfish and myopic

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purpose of dumping solid waste generated by the
domestic, industrial, commercial, hospital and
construction activities within AMC limits without
taking adequate case to establish processing and
treatment plants to dispose the waste in
accordance with the Rules and directions of
Hon’ble Supreme Court and High Court of Bombay in
several cases touching the subject-matter, is
nothing but the most brutal violation of human
rights and a shame for Indian democracy and
governance.

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(p)The Petitioners are agitating flagrant
and intentional violation of their right to life
by being pushed into constant exposure to severely
contaminated air, water and soil guaranteed by the
Constitution under Article 21.

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(q)Similarly, the AMC and the State and

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Union have shirked away their constitutional and
statutory obligations by continuing illegal

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dumping of solid waste without necessary treatment

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and violated Art. 47, 48-A, 51-A(g) of the
Constitution, Chapter XVIII of the Bombay

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Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 and
section 10(1A) of the Aircraft Act, 1934 and Rule
81-B of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.

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(r)For the last 33 years the solid Municipal
waste from the entire Aurangabad Municipal
Corporation Region was being dumped in mixed
condition at the site, which had been proposed to
be used as a composting site, and was outside the

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Corporation limits in village Mandki. The
Aurangabad Municipal Corporation could not have
used the said site outside its limits and within
the limits of village Mandki without the prior
sanction of the Gram Panchayat.

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(s)The State of Maharashtra as well as the
Aurangabad Municipal Corporation has vehemently
contended that 50 Acres land in village Mandki is

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owned by the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation.
However, 7/12 extract annexed with the Petition

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suggests that the lands are Government Gairan
lands. The Government Resolution dated 12.07.2011
mandates that prior to any allocation of the
Government Gairan land, there shall be a
Resolution of the Gram Panchayat or Gram Sabha.

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(t)A copy of the Government Resolution dated

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12.07.2011 is a part of the compendium II of
additional documents at serial No.13 from pp.588
to 592, whereas copies of communication between

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the District Collector, Aurangabad and the
DivisionalCommissioner,Aurangabaddated

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18.03.1989 showing that the Gram Panchayat had not
granted any NOC and a communication dated
14.11.2011 addressed by an Advocate to the

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Assistant Director, Town Planning stating that in
the issue of mutation of the name of Aurangabad
Municipal Corporation in the 50 acre Government
Gairan land at Mandki, there is no document

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allotting land in the file of the Aurangabad
MunicipalCorporationortheDivisional

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Commissioner, rather only a communication

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recommending allotment.

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(u)It has been submitted across the bar by

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the counsel appearing for the Corporation that
currently there is nearly 20,00,000 cubic ton
solid waste in mixed condition lying at the dump
site, whereas in 2008-09 by way of development of
sanitary landfill constructed by Contractor namely
Mule Brothers and Nirman Construction an equal
amount of mixed solid waste was dumped beneath the
ground.

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(v)It was the duty of the Secretary, Urban

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Development Department under SWM Rules, 2016 under
11 [f] reproduced as under to:

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(f) ensure identification and allocation of suitable land to the local bodies within one year for setting up of processing and disposal facilities for solid wastes and

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incorporate them in the master plans (land use plan) of the State or as the case may be, cities through

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metropolitan and district planning committees or town and country planning department;”

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.Whereas it is the duty on the District

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Collector or Divisional Commissioner to facilitate
in the same as per Rule 12. Similarly, it is
required under Rule 11 [1] as under:

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“(1) notify buffer zone for the solid waster processing and disposal facilities of more than five tons per day in consultation with the State Pollution Control Board;”

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.The same is not possible to be done at

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the present dump site as there is a School as well

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as residential tenements right next to the dump
site. Thus, processing the waste in the present
site is not permissible under the Rules.

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(w)The waste cannot either be accumulated or

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processed at the dump site as per the SWM Rules,
2016 and Aircraft Act, 1934 and Rules, 1937 which

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demand that even for processing site which

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requires using the lying tonnes of garbage to be
first attempted to be segregated and thereafter
converted into manure or wind-rowed and land-
filled, the distance from Airport has to be more
than 20 kms. Otherwise, the collected waste which
often leads to fires causing a heavy smoke and
smog in the close vicinity of the airport causing
obstruction in take off and landing aircrafts
which may lead to accidents causing deaths of
hundreds of people. Similarly, the vultures and
other scavenging birds is another risk to the take
off and landing aircrafts if waste is allowed to

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accumulate in vicinity of the Airport. It is
owing to these reasons that a notice had been
issued by the Airport Authority of India in 1997
with regards to the prosecution under Aircraft
Act, if the waste dumping is not immediately
stopped.

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considerations that the processing plant cannot be
constructed at the dump site and the entire waste

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pil33.18

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¶219

will have to be transported to another location
where it can be safely processed.

¶220

(y)Further, land fill is even more so
illegal in the present dump site and it will be
necessary to remove the same from the present dump
site, as it was without authorisation from the
MPCB and post-facto approval cannot now be sought
to be given as it does not meet the criteria of
site selection which requires a minimum 500 mtr
distance from the residential area and 20 kms from
airport.

¶221

(z)The residents of the villages surrounding
the present dump site, have been exposed to severe

¶222

air pollutants and continual intake of
contaminated drinking water rising mortality risks

¶223

from cancer of liver, pancreas, kidney, lungs,
other respiratory diseases, increased infant
mortality rate owing to effect on pregnancy and
deformities in new borns. There are several
studies conducted and published in International

¶224

pil33.18

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¶226

Journal of Epidemiology and other reputed journals
showing findings of diseases and risks attached to
staying in vicinity of land fill sites which are
placed on record in II compendium of additional
documents. The residents of village Mandki and
others have faced much worse by being exposed to
open dump which is several times more dangerous.
Similarly, there are studies about the
microbiological content of the ground water at the

¶227

dump site and its ill-effects, the same is placed
on record in compendium I of additional documents.

¶228

(aa)It is necessary for the State Government

¶229

and AMC to ensure that the harmful effect of the
illegal dumping for decades together and land fill
without authorisation and in flagrant violation of
norms, shall have to be reversed so as to ensure
clean water and air is afforded by the villagers.
Till, the same is done, the provision of clean
drinking water shall be done to the villagers from
the pipeline of the AMC that passes through the
village.

¶230

pil33.18

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¶232

(bb)The residents of the village of Mandki

¶233

and nearby villages had caused many andolans and
protests for the purpose of stopping the dumping
of waste at the dump site in their village, right
from 1990 onwards. Several groups of villagers
have conducted meetings with political persons,
Municipal Commissioner, District Collector and
Divisional Commissioner, details of which are
mentioned below:

¶234

`Protest by`	`Date of meeting`	`Met with`
`Shri. Mahadev` `Suryavanshi` `[Corporator] and` `others`	`December 1998`	`Then AMC` `officials` `including` `Commissioner`
`Shri Bhagwan Ragde` `[Corporator] and` `others`	`December 2003 and in` `2006`	`Then AMC` `officials` `including` `Commissioner`
`Shri Bhausaheb` `Gaike and others`	`2011, 2012`	`Then AMC` `officials` `including` `Commissioner`
`Shri Manish` `Dahinde` `[Corporator] and` `others`	`June 2013`	`Shri.` `Harshwardhan` `Kamble` `[Commissioner]` `and with Shri` `Chandrakant` `Khaire [MP]`

¶235

pil33.18

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¶237

`Shri Gokul Malke` `[Corporator] and` `others`	`2016`	`Shri.` `Kendrekar` `[Commissioner]`
`Shri Dr.Vijay Dak` `and others`	`13.10.2017 and again` `in 16.02.2018 to` `till date`	`Speaker` `Maharashtra` `Legislative` `Assembly – Shri` `Haribhau` `Bagde` `[Nana]` `Commissioner` `of` `AMC and Mayor,` `Dy.Mayor of AMC` `also present` `Assured` `that` `within` `three` `months time that` `the waste will be` `shifted out of` `Naregaon.`

¶238

. There were several other protest, and constant
assurances of shifting the waste, details of which
could not be gathered in the short span.

¶239

(cc)The State Government in the affidavit

¶240

filed through the Chief Secretary has submitted
that the time line for sanction and release of
funds in one table and activities in another
table, the Petitioners shall respond to both

¶241

pil33.18

¶242

¶243

separately as follows:

¶244

(dd)With regards to the time-line regarding

¶245

sanction and release of finances, it is necessary
that prior to the revised detailed Project Report

¶246

[DPR] dated 08.03.2018, that there has to be
separate site selection for [i] composting; [ii]

¶247

dry waste sorting and recycling; [iii]
processing / treating old waste; [iv] land-fill
for new reject waste. The site selection for these

¶248

activities with relation to the municipal solid
waste management has to be done in accordance with

¶249

the Rules of 2016 and the Urban Development
Department Guidelines under Swachha Bharat

¶250

Mission, by a scientific methodology.

¶251

(ee)Currently the Aurangabad Municipal

¶252

Corporation is only focusing on locating a site
for dumping mixed waste being generated in the

¶253

city, which is only magnifying the problem that
lies upon the city. There is no site selection
for [i] composting; [ii] dry waste sorting and

¶254

pil33.18

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¶256

recycling; [iii] processing / treating old waste;
and [iv] land-fill for new reject waste. Even no
mechanism is in place regarding consulting NEERI
or any other body with expertise like the Supreme
court constituted body for Waster Management, IIT

¶257

or TISS which may help in infrastructure needed
for the site-selection for these activities. The

¶258

Bombay High Court at the Principal Seat in the
order dated 04.02.2016 in Civil Application
No.3184 of 2015 in Writ Petition No.8445 of 2015

¶259

has recorded the report submitted by IIT Bombay to
recommend the waste disposal mechanism to be used

¶260

in Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation, on a
direction by the Hon’ble Court. The judgment is at
serial No.6 in compendium of judgments at page
Nos.20 and 21.

¶261

(ff)The distribution of funds as provided in
para 5 [ii] [f] is 35% by Central Government and
23.3% by State Government, thus 58.3% is borne by

¶262

either the State or Central Government, and rest

¶263

is to be borne by the ULB i.e. the Urban Local

¶264

pil33.18

¶265

¶266

Body, however, no mention is made about the
adequacy of funds with the Aurangabad Municipal
Corporation. Similarly, if the funds are received
only by 21.03.2018 and 30.04.2018, no real work
for any of the waste disposal efforts can be
possible prior to that. With the current
situation, it is necessary to immediately invite
the tenders or enter into private treaty contracts
with reputed agencies for installing/constructing
the decentralized compost pits, bio-gas plant,
decentralised dry-waste sorting and recycling
center and land fill site, after scientific site
selection.

¶267

(gg)With regards to the time-line for the
waste disposal activities, which is as follows:

¶268

[i]It is the stand of the Aurangabad
Municipal Council that transportation and
collection is being done in all wards, whereas the
segregation is done in 81 out of 115 wards, then
no question arises of 3 months time required for

¶269

pil33.18

¶270

¶271

mere segregation in all 115 wards. It is utmost
essential to start 95-100% segregation of bio-
degradableandnon-biodegradablewaste

¶272

immediately at war-footing, if necessary by using
penal action to ensure 100% segregation so as not
to escalate the problem of disposing mixed waste.

¶273

[ii]The Rules of 2016 more specifically Rule
15 [m], [q], [u] and [v] mandate decentralised
composting so as to ensure civic responsibility
upon each resident to segregate waste, failing
which they would be immediate affected persons.

¶274

However, the affidavit has vaguely stated
centralised / decentralized composting without
giving any details of how it will be

¶275

decentralised. There are several vacant lands in
each ward which may be used for composting
purposes if it fulfills all the criteria mentioned
under the Rules, 2016.

¶276

[iii]It is required for scientific selection
of site for both bio-gas plant and scientific

¶277

pil33.18

¶278

¶279

land-fill, after which the construction and
development shall not take more than 3-4 weeks.
Thus, this time is also required to be reduced in
light of the contravention of the time-line as
suggested in the SWM Rules, 2016 as well as
judgment and order of the High Court at Principal
seat dated 02.04.2013 in the matter of Vinay Tatke
at serial No.10 in the compendium of judgments.

¶280

(hh)With regards to scientific closing down

¶281

the dump site at Naregaon, the time of 12 months
is not permissible as the assurance to do the same

¶282

is being given from 1996 onwards whereas the Court
direction in that regard in the Writ Petition of
2002 was also long passed and continuation of the

¶283

dump site at Naregaon after 2004 January is in
fact action in contempt of the orders of this
Court. Since the processing has to be conducted
at a suitable site as per Rules of 2016, the
transportation of the waste shall be started
immediately to the scientifically selected site

¶284

and the land fill be dug out and restored to its

¶285

pil33.18

¶286

¶287

natural state within period of 3 months.

¶288

6. With the above submissions, learned

¶289

counsel submitted that the Petition deserves to be

¶290

allowed. Learned counsel in support of her aforesaid contentions, placed reliance upon the exposition of law in the case laws viz. [i] Amit R. Goenka Vs. Municipal Corporation of Greater

¶291

Bombay¹ , [ii] The Calcutta Law Journal [Pvt] Limited Vs. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation and ors.² , [iii] Almitra H. Patel and another Vs.

¶292

Union of India and others³ , [iv] Kaustubha Dattatraya Gokhale and others Vs. State of Maharashtra and others in Public Interest Litigation No.182 of 2009, decided on 13^th April, 2015, [v] Kaustubha D. Gokhale & Ors. Vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors. in Public Interest Litigation

¶293

No.182 of 2009, decided on 7^th October, 2016, [vi]

¶294

Mira Bhaindar Municipal Corporation Vs. Nagari

¶295

Hakka Sangharsh Samiti⁴ , [vii] Dr.Harshwardhan

¶296

1 2016 SCC Online Bom.11197

¶297

2 2014 SCC Online Cal 17264

¶298

3 [1998] 2 SCC 416

¶299

4 2016 SCC Online Bom. 1208

¶300

pil33.18

¶301

¶302

Madhusudhan Modak & Anr. Vs. Pune Municipal Corporation & Ors.⁵ , [viii] Almitra H. Patel and another Vs. Union of India and others⁶ , [ix] Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai Vs. Shri Pandurang Patil and another in Civil Application No.221 of 2013 in Public Interest Litigation No.217 of 2009, decided on 26^th and 29^th February, 2016, [x] Vinay Laxman Tatke Vs. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and others in Writ Petition No.1740 of 1998 along with connected matters, decided on 2^nd April, 2013, [xi] Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and another Vs. Union of India and

¶303

others⁷ , [xii] A.P.Pollution Control Board II Vs. Prof. M.V.Nayudu [RETD.] and others⁸ , [xiii] Research Foundation for Science Vs. Union of India and another⁹ , [xiv] Amarnath Shrine, In Re Vs. Union of India and others¹⁰ and [xv] N.D.Jayal & another Vs. Union of India and others¹¹ .

¶304

5 2016 SCC Online Bom. 8941

¶305

6 [2000] 8 SCC 19

¶306

7 [2017] 5 SCC 326

¶307

8 [2001] 2 SCC 62

¶308

9 [2005] 13 SCC 668

¶309

10 [2013] 3 SCC 247

¶310

11 [2004] 9 SCC 362

¶311

pil33.18

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¶313

7.Learned counsel also invites our

¶314

attention to the compendium, running into two
volumes and submits that various studies have
demonstrated the ill-effect of dumping solid waste

¶315

for years together and its impact upon the
environment, drinking water, birds and animals.
Learned counsel invites our attention to the
report of the study undertaken by one Mohammed
Asef Iqbal, Ph.D. Student of Dr. Babasaheb

¶316

Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad,
wherein it is stated that, with the passage of
time the MSW dumping site is increasing the
pollutant load in the soils, which in course of
time percolates down the ground to reach the
underground waters and pollute them. Therefore,
learned counsel submits that the Petition deserves
to be allowed.

¶317

8.Mr. A.B. Girase, learned Government

¶318

Pleader appearing for the State invites our

¶319

attention to the averments of the affidavit in
reply filed on behalf of Respondent State and its

¶320

pil33.18

¶321

¶322

officials. He further invites our attention to the
contents of the affidavit of Chief Secretary to
the Government of India, which is annexed with the
affidavit in reply, and fairly states that, the
State Government is determined to address the

¶323

issues raised in the PIL and the State Government
has taken effective steps as it is evident from
the averments in the affidavit in reply and the
affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary. He submits
that pursuant to the order dated 28th April, 2003,
passed by the Division Bench of this Court (CORAM:
A.B. NAIK AND N.H. PATIL, JJ) in Writ Petition

¶324

No.3253 of 2002, and the order dated 7th July,
2003, passed by the Division Bench of this Court
(CORAM: B.H. MARLAPALLE & P.V. KAKADE, JJ.) in the
said Writ Petition No.3253 of 2002, and also the
statement made by the then Government Pleader

¶325

before the High Court, the State Government
processed the relevant papers/ file and in the
year 2005 ear-marked the land and possession of
the said land was given to the Municipal
Corporation. However, he submits that what steps

¶326

pil33.18

¶327

¶328

have been taken by the Corporation further needs
to be inquired into. He submits that in case the
Corporation has not taken the steps keeping in
view the MSW Rules of 2000 and also Solid Waste
Management Rules, 2016 and various Government
Resolutions, Circulars, guidelines issued from
time to time, in that case it would not be in the
interest of public at large residing in the
vicinity of villages Mandki, Gopalpur, Pakhri and
Mahalpimpri to continue the dumping of solid
waste/ garbage at Gut Nos.78 and 79 of village
Mandki.

¶329

9.Mr. Deshpande, learned A.S.G. appearing

¶330

for Respondent Nos.1, 10 and 11 submits that the

¶331

Petition is premature. He submits that it is true

¶332

that the site of Gut Nos.78 and 79 of village

¶333

Mandki is within the radius of 10 Kms. from the
Airport, however the permission can be obtained
from the authorities prescribed under Rule 91 of
the Aircraft Rules, 1937.

¶334

pil33.18

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¶336

10.Mr. Nerlikar, learned counsel appearing

¶337

for Respondent No.6 invites our attention to the
show cause notice issued to the Municipal
Commissioner, Aurangabad Municipal Corporation on
20th November, 2017 by Member Secretary,

¶338

Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, as to why
prosecution under Section 37 read with section 21
and 31A of the Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1981 and under Section 15 of the
Environment (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, 1986 read with Solid Waste Management Rules,

¶339

2016 shall not be launched against him and
Municipal Corporation of Aurangabad as well as
person who are responsible for day to day affairs
of the Corporation. He also invites our attention

¶340

to another show cause notice issued to the
Commissioner, Aurangabad Municipal Corporation on
27th February, 2018 by Dr. J.B. Sangewar, Regional
Officer, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board,

¶341

Aurangabad and submits that it is specifically
stated in the said notice that Municipal
Corporation is not serious about the pollution

¶342

pil33.18

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¶344

control and is contravening provisions of various
environmental enactments knowingly and willfully.
Learned counsel further submits that it is also
stated in the said notice that inspite of repeated
instructions given by the Board to the Corporation
authorities, till date the Corporation has not
submitted No Objection Certificate from District
Level Site Selection Committee to the Board for
Naregaon/Mandki site, and that the Corporation
authorities have not submitted any proposal for
alternative site for the scientific treatment and
disposal of municipal solid waste.

¶345

11.Mr. R.S. Deshmukh, learned counsel
appearingforRespondentNo.7Municipal

¶346

Corporation submits that Corporation has taken
effective steps time to time to collect, transport

¶347

and properly dump the solid waste/ garbage at Gut
Nos.78 and 79 of village Mandki. It is submitted

¶348

that the Commissioner of Municipal Corporation has
already replied the show cause notices. He submits

¶349

that recently Corporation has taken effective

¶350

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¶351

¶352

steps so as to implement the Solid Waste
Management Rules, 2016. It is submitted that the
Petition is premature. During the course of
arguments, he invites our attention to various
steps taken by the Corporation and submits that

¶353

the Corporation may be allowed, at least for
further three months, to dump the new solid dry or
wet municipal waste at Gut Nos.78 and 79 of
village Mandki. He submits that the Corporation

¶354

has decided to set up plant/ machinery keeping in

¶355

view the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 for
segregation and composting of wet waste and also

¶356

to take measures such as Bio-gas plant,
centralizing process facility, scientific landfill
and all other necessary steps. He submits that

¶357

even the Chief Secretary to the Government of
Maharashtra has filed the affidavit stating the
time limit in the said affidavit for taking all
necessary steps in that behalf, within eight

¶358

months. He further submits that the State

¶359

Government and Corporation would ensure that

¶360

scientific closure of legacy dump at Naregaon is

¶361

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¶363

complete within 12 months.

¶364

12.We have carefully considered the
submissions of the learned counsel appearing for
the Petitioner, learned Assistant Solicitor
General appearing for the Respondent Nos.1, 10
and 11, learned Government Pleader appearing for
the State and its officials, learned counsel
appearing for Respondent No.6 - Maharashtra
Pollution Control Board and learned counsel
appearing for Respondent No.7 - Aurangabad
Municipal Corporation. With their able assistance,
we have perused the grounds taken in the Petition,
annexures thereto, various reports, reported
Judgments relied on by the counsel appearing for
the respective parties and the affidavit in
replies filed on behalf of the respective
Respondents.

¶365

13.It is not in dispute that after 1980-81

¶366

Respondent No.7 shifted the dumpyard to Gut No.4
in village Naregaon which was then outside the

¶367

pil33.18

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¶369

municipal limits of Aurangabad. Thereafter
Municipal Council was transformed into a
Corporation subsuming within it many suburban
areas and the Gram Panchayat of Naregaon was also
subsumed in Aurangabad Municipal Corporation.
Thereafter dumpyard was shifted few Kilometers
away from the then site at Gut No.4 of village
Naregaon to take it beyond the city limits of
Aurangabad Municipal Corporation on 50 acre
Government Gairan land situate at Gut Nos.78 and
79 in Mandki village for dumping the waste of
Aurangabad city. Undisputedly, for more than 35

¶370

years the waste generated in the municipal limits
of the AMC Is merely collected by the AMC and
dumped at 50 acres land situate at Gut Nos.78 and
79 of village Mandki. Though Government Resolution
dated 12th July, 2011 issued by the Revenue and
Forest Department of the Government of Maharashtra
mandates that 'no objection certificate' should be

¶371

taken from the concerned Gram Panchayat, the
same was not taken. Respondent No.7 did

¶372

not bother to take no objection certificate from

¶373

pil33.18

¶374

¶375

the concerned Gram Panchayat. As rightly submitted
by learned counsel appearing for Respondent No.6
that from the year 2004 Respondent No.7 had never
shown seriousness to follow the provisions of the
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,

¶376

1981, the Environment (Protection) Act,1986,
Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules,
2000, Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
1974 and continued the activity of dumping the
solid waste/ garbage at Gut Nos.78 and 79 of
village Mandki. No document is placed on record by
Respondent No.7 which would demonstrate/ show that
Respondent No.7 had taken 'No Objection
Certificate' from Respondent No.6 from the year
2004 onwards. The provisions of relevant Act
mandates that such 'No Objection Certificate" is
required to be taken. The Supreme Court in the
case of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and another vs.

¶377

Union of India and others12, has taken a serious
view of not obtaining consent to operate by the

¶378

12 (2017) 5 SCC 326

¶379

pil33.18

¶380

¶381

industry from the competent authority. It would be
gainful to reproduce herein below Paragraph Nos.4,
8 and 12 from the said Judgment, which reads thus:

¶382

"4. The question that arises for our
consideration is, whether the same is
maintained in good order, after the
industry itself has become functional. The
industry requiring “consent to operate”,
can be permitted to run, only if its
primary effluent treatment plant, is
functional. We, therefore, consider it
just and appropriate, to direct the State
Pollution Control Boards concerned, to
issue notices to all industrial units,
which require “consent to operate”, by way
of a common advertisement, requiring them
to make their primary effluent treatment
plants fully operational, within three
months from today. On the expiry of the
notice period of three months, the State
Pollution Control Board(s) concerned are
mandated to carry out inspections, to
verify, whether or not, each industrial
unit requiring “consent to operate”, has a
functional primary effluent treatment
plant. Such of the industrial units, which
have not been able to make their primary
effluenttreatmentplantfully

¶383

pil33.18

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¶385

operational, within the notice period,
shall be restrained from any further
industrial activity. This direction may be
implemented by requiring the electricity
supply and distribution agency concerned,
to disconnect the electricity connection
of the defaulting industry. We, therefore,
hereby further direct that in case the
State Pollution Control Boards concerned
make a recommendation to the electrical
supply and distribution agency/company
concerned, to disconnect electricity
supply to an industry, for the reason that
its primary effluent treatment plant is
not functional, it shall honour such
recommendation, and shall disconnect the
electricity supply to such defaulting
industrial concern, forthwith.

¶386

8. In view of the fact that the financial
position has been taken care of, as has
been expressed above, we are of the view,
that the setting up of “common effluent
treatment plants”, should be taken up as
an urgent mission. With reference to
common effluent treatment plants, which
are already under implementation, we hope
and expect that they would be completed
within the timelines already postulated.
With reference to common effluent

¶387

pil33.18

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¶389

treatment plants, which are yet to be set
up, we consider it just and appropriate to
direct the State Governments concerned
(includingtheUnionTerritories
concerned) to complete the same within a
period of three years, from today. We are
also of the view that while acquiring land
for the “common effluent treatment
plants”, the State Governments concerned
(includingtheUnionTerritories
concerned) will acquire such additional
land, as may be required for setting up
“zero liquid discharge plants”, if and
when required in the future.

¶390

12. We are of the view that in the manner
suggested above, the malady of sewer
treatment, should also be dealt with
simultaneously. We, therefore, hereby
direct that “sewage treatment plants”
shall also be set up and made functional,
within the timelines and the format,
expressed hereinabove.

¶391

14.In the facts of the present case,
Respondent No.7 has not obtained no objection
certificate from Respondent No.6 since the year
2004 onwards and in breach and utter disregard of

¶392

pil33.18

¶393

¶394

relevant provisions of the Air (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Environment
(Protection) Act,1986, Solid Wastes (Management
and Handling) Rules, 2000, Solid Waste Management
Rules, 2016 and the Water (Prevention and Control
of Pollution) Act, 1974 continued to dump the
solid waste/ garbage at Gut Nos. 78 and 79 of
village Mandki.

¶395

15.At this juncture, it would be relevant to

¶396

make reference to the order dated 28th April,
2003, passed by the Division Bench of this Court

¶397

(CORAM: A.B. NAIK AND N.H. PATIL, JJ.) in Writ
Petition No.3253 of 2002 (Dr. Shaikh Mohammed
Shafeeque Ahmed and another vs. The Municipal
Corporation of City of Aurangabad and others),
which reads as under:-

¶398

" Mr.E.P. Sawant, learned Government

¶399

Pleader for respondent-State, has produced
before us the proposal submitted by the
Collector, Aurangabad to the Divisional
Commissioner,AurangabadDivision,

¶400

pil33.18

¶401

¶402

Aurangabad, regarding acquisition of land
and shifting of Solid Waste Project at
village Karodi.

¶403

2. Having heard the learned

¶404

Advocates appearing for the respective
parties, we are of the view that the
question involved in this Petition is of
public importance and some urgency will
have to be shown by all the concerned. As
the proposal is now received by the
Divisional Commissioner, Shri E.P. Sawant,
assures that within one week from today,
the Commissioner will forward the proposal
to the Government, for its consideration.
On receipt of the proposal, the Government
shall decide the issue involved and pass an
appropriate order.

¶405

3. Place this Petition for further orders on 30^th June, 2003.”

¶406

16.Further order dated 7th July, 2003 passed
by the Division Bench of this Court (CORAM: B.H.
MARLAPALLE AND P.V. KAKADE, JJ.) while disposing
of the said Writ Petition No.3253 of 2003, reads
thus:

¶407

pil33.18

¶408

¶409

"Heard.

¶410

It is evident that the proposal to provide
for a dump yard is pending with the State
Government and the land located near
Village Karodi, Gat.No.135 admeasuring 100
acres in Aurangabad Taluka, which was
demarked by the local administration has
been objected to by the Village Panchayat
of Karodi.

¶411

We are also informed that the said Village
Panchayat has already lodged its
objections before the appropriate forum.
Ultimately, it is the State Government,
which has to take a decision either in
finalizing the land recommended by the
Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad or
some other land, taking into consideration
the proposal submitted by the Municipal
Corporation, Aurangabad.

¶412

We direct that the issue be finalized as
expeditiously as possible and preferably
within a period of six months, after
hearing all the concerned.

¶413

Petition disposed of accordingly.

¶414

C.A. does not survive."

¶415

pil33.18

¶416

¶417

17.Learned Government Pleader, during the

¶418

course of hearing informed this Court that
pursuant to the directions contained in said order
dated 7th July, 2003, reproduced above, the State
Government not only finalized the site, but
possession of the land was also handed over/ given
to the Corporation in the year 2005 itself. It
appears that Respondent No.7 did not take further
steps pursuant to the said order passed by the
Division Bench of this Court and continued to dump
solid waste/ garbage in utter disregard to the
relevant provisions of the concerned Acts and the

¶419

Rules of 2000 and the Rules of 2016, till the
citizens/ villagers of the afore mentioned
villages protested in a peaceful manner by coming

¶420

on street when their all efforts for redressal of
their grievance were not addressed by the
Respondents. The Petitioners have placed on record
various representations, inter-se correspondence

¶421

between Respondent No.7 and Government officials,
which would demonstrate that on every occasion
only assurance was given to the Petitioners that

¶422

pil33.18

¶423

¶424

alternate site will be identified by the
Corporation and the Corporation should be allowed

¶425

to dump the solid waste/ garbage till then. One of
such letter, dated 7th September, 2013, written by
Suresh Pedgaonkar, Deputy Commissioner (Revenue)
to Dahihande Manish Chandrakant, Councillor, Ward
No.22, Municipal Corporation, Aurangabad is
reproduced herein below:-

¶426

" tk-dz-@euik@mvk¼e½@Lohl@2013@62]

¶427

fnuk a d %&07@09@2013

¶428

izfr]

¶429

Jh- nghg a Ms efu"k p a nzdk a r] l- lnL; ok W MZ dz- 22] egkuxjikfydk] vkSj a xkckn-

¶430

fo"k; %& miks"k.k ekxs ?ks.;kckcr-

¶431

egksn;]

¶432

ukjsxko ;sFkhy dpjk Msiks vU;= gyfo.;klkBh

¶433

vki.k lq: dsysY;k miks"k.kkP;k vuq"k a xkus vkSj a xkckn

¶434

egkuxjikfydsP;k orhus vki.kk a Lk ys[kh vk'oklu

¶435

ns.;kr ;srs dh] ukjsxk a o ;sFkhy dpjk Msiks vU;=

¶436

gyfo.;klkBh ek- foHkkxh; vk;qDr rlsp ek-

¶437

pil33.18

¶438

¶439

ftYgkf/kdkjh vkSj a xkckn ;k a ps lkscr ek- vk;qDr egkuxjikfydk vkSj a xkckn ;k a ph ppkZ >kyh vkgs- lnj ppsZe/;s vkSj a xkckn egkuxjikfydk dpjk MsikslkBh vU; fBdk.kh tkxk miyC/k d:u ns.;kps R;k a uh ekU; dsys vkgs- ;k l a nHkkZus fofo/k foHkkxkps uk&gjdr izek.ki= d:u ?ks.;kph dk;Zokgh lq: vkgs- egkuxjikfydsP;k dpjk MsikslkBh o R;klkBh vko';d vlysys uk&gjdr izek.ki= izkIr d:u ?ks.;kph dk;Zokgh v a fre VI;kr vkgs- lnj dk;Zokgh iw.kZ >kY;ku a rj o tfeuhpk rkck feGkY;ku a rj vkSj a xkckn egkuxjikfydkpk ukjsxk a o ;sFkhy dpjk Msiks vU;= gyfo.;kph dk;Zokgh rkrMhus dj.;kr ;sowu ;kckcrph loZ izdzh;k nksu efg.;kr dj.;kr ;sbZy-

¶440

d`i;k vki.k vkiys miks"k.k ekxs ?ksÅu lgdk;Z djkos gh fou a rh-

¶441

vkiyk fo'oklw]

¶442

Lok{kjh lqjs'k isMxk a odj] mi vk;qDr ¼eglwy½

¶443

True translation of the said letter dated

¶444

¶445

pil33.18

¶446

¶447

7th September, 2013 is as under:

¶448

"O.No.AMC/DC(R)/SVS/2013/62 Date 07/09/2013

¶449

To,

¶450

Shri.Dahihande Manish Chandrakant
S. Sadasya Ward No.22,
Municipal Corporation,
Aurangabad

¶451

Subject:- Regarding withdrawal of
 hunger strike.

¶452

Sir,

¶453

For shifting of Garbage Depot to
any other place from Naregaon you have
started hunger strike therefore on
behalfofMunicipalCorporation
Aurangabad a written assurance is being
given to you that for shifting Garbage
Depot from Naregaon to any other place
a discussion has been taken place
amongst the Municipal Commissioner,
Divisional Commissioner and Collector
Aurangabad. In the said discussion it
has been agreed that for Garbage Depot
an another place shall be made
available for the Municipal Corporation
Aurangabad. In this regard, necessary
action for seeking No Objection

¶454

pil33.18

¶455

¶456

Certificates from various departments
is going on. The action of seeking
necessary No Objection Certificates
from various department for Garbage
Depot of Municipal Corporation is in
the final stage. After completion of
said procedure and after seeking
possession of land for the Garbage
Depot of Municipal Corporation the
process of shifting Garbage Depot of
Naregaon to any other place shall be
made immediately within two months.

¶457

You are requested to co-operate
by withdrawing your hunger strike.

¶458

 Yours faithfully,
 Sd/-
Suresh Pedgaonkar
 Deputy Commissioner (Revenue)

¶459

18.There is no denial to the assertion of

¶460

the Petitioners that Respondent No.7 and also the
State Government and representatives of the people
gave assurance to the villagers on many occasions
that steps will be taken forthwith so as to shift

¶461

the dumping yard from the present site to some
other site. The contents of the show-cause notice

¶462

pil33.18

¶463

¶464

issued by Respondent No.6 to Respondent No.7,

¶465

referred above, would make it abundantly clear
that there is flagrant violation of the relevant
provisions of Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, the Environment (Protection)
Act,1986, the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974, Solid Wastes (Management and
Handling) Rules, 2000 and Solid Waste Management
Rules, 2016 by Respondent No.7 Corporation. It
appears that Respondent No.7 did not bother to
address the grievance of the Petitioners raised
by them through various representations and

¶466

continued to dump the solid waste/ garbage at Gut
Nos.78 and 79 of village Mandki in utter disregard

¶467

to the fundamental rights of the citizens
guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of
India to live in pollution free environment. In

¶468

the said background, it is the duty of this Court
to ensure that not only the orders of this Court

¶469

passed in Writ Petition No.3253 of 2002, referred

¶470

above, are followed but also the provisions of
Environment Protection Act, 1986 and the Rules of

¶471

pil33.18

¶472

¶473

2000 and Rules of 2016 are implemented by
Respondent No.7 and to seriously view the breach
by the Respondents, in particular breach by State
and State officials and also by the Municipal
Corporation, which has deprived the large number
of citizens residing at villages Mandki, Gopalpur,
Palshi, Pokhri and surrounding areas, from the
right to live in pollution free environment, as
guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of
India.

¶474

19.At this juncture, it would be appropriate

¶475

to rely upon the observations of the Supreme Court
in the case of Amarnath Shrine, In Re (Court on
its own Motion) vs. Union of India and others13.
While considering and explaining the ambit and
scope of Article 21 of the Constitution of India,
the Supreme Court held thus:

¶476

"The right to life under Article 21 is a
right to live with dignity, safety and
in a clean environment. The ambit of

¶477

13 (2013) 3 SCC 247

¶478

pil33.18

¶479

¶480

Article 21 of the Constitution has been
expanded by judicial pronouncements
consistently. The judgments have
accepted such right and placed a clear
obligation on the part of the State to
ensure meaningful fulfilment of such
right. Socio-economic justice for people
is the very spirit of the Preamble of
our Constitution. “Interest of the
general public” in Article 19 [5] is a
comprehensiveexpressioncomprising
several issues which affect public
welfare, public convenience, public
order, health, morality, safety, etc.,
all intended to achieve the socio-
economic justice for people. The
expression “life” enshrined in Article
21 of the Constitution does not connote
mere animal existence or continued
drudgery through life. It has a much
wider meaning which includes right to
livelihood, better standard of living,
hygienic conditions in the workplace and
leisure. The right to life with human
dignity encompasses within its fold,
some of the finer facets of human
civilisation which make life worth
living. The expanded connotation of life
would mean the traditional and cultural
heritage of the persons concerned."

¶481

pil33.18

¶482

¶483

20.As already observed the Corporation in

¶484

breach of right guaranteed under Article 21 of the
Constitution of India, to live with dignity,
safety and in a clean environment, had continued
to dump the solid waste/ garbage in Gut Nos.78 and
79 of village Mandki, without taking appropriate
measures/ steps for segregation, processing of the
solid waste. There is no denial to the assertion
of the Petitioners that the solid waste/ garbage
is dumped even underneath up to considerable depth
and no steps have been taken to process the same
so as to avoid the serious consequences such as

¶485

air pollution, and also to avoid contamination of
water due to dumping of such huge quantity of the
solid waste/garbage. The Petitioners, keeping in
view the submissions made across the Bar by the
counsel appearing for the Corporation, submitted
that nearly 20,00,000 cubic ton solid waste in
mixed condition is lying at the dumping site. The

¶486

said site has been used by the Corporation for
more than 33 years and therefore there is no doubt
that it has attained maximum capacity and

¶487

pil33.18

¶488

¶489

therefore said needs immediate closure.

¶490

21.The Division Bench of this Court,

¶491

Principal Seat at Mumbai (CORAM: A.M. KHANWILKAR
AND A.P. BHANGALE, JJ.) in Writ Petition No.1740

¶492

of 1998 (Vijay Laxman Takte vs. The Navi Mumbai
Municipal Corporation and others), by order dated
2nd April, 2013, disposed of said Petitions in
terms of "Draft Minutes of the Order". It would be
gainful to reproduce herein below the "Draft
Minutes of the Order" so prepared and placed
before the Division Bench, which reads thus:

¶493

“ Draft Minutes of the Order

¶494

1. For implementation of Solid Waste
(Management & Handling) Rules, 2000 (MSW
Rules) and for segregation, management,
treatment and disposal of solid waste in
the areas of various local authorities,
throughout the State of Maharashtra
following directions are given.

¶495

2.For the aforesaid purpose, the
State of Maharashtra shall be considered
into four regions as follows :

¶496

(1) Konkan, (2) Western Maharashtra, (3)
Vidharbha and (4) Marathwada

¶497

3.The local authorities shall be
divided into following categories :

¶498

pil33.18

¶499

¶500

(1) Urban Local Authorities:

¶501

(a) Municipal Corporations

¶502

(b) Municipal Councils

¶503

(2) Other Authorities:

¶504

(a) Zilla Parishad

¶505

(b) Taluka Panchayat and

¶506

(c) Village Panchayat

¶507

4.The following officers shall be
designated as Nodal Officers/ Authorized
officers who will be incharge and
responsible for implementation of the
MSW Rules and these directions:

¶508

(1)Divisional Commissioner for the
Districts within his jurisdiction;

¶509

(2)Municipal Commissioner / Additional
Commissioner for Municipal Corporation
areas;

¶510

(3) Chief Officer-Municipal Council;

¶511

(4)District Collector for the entire
district in respect of all other local
authorities.

¶512

5.(a)TheSecretaryUrban
Development Department (UDD) shall be
overall incharge as per MSW Rules 2000
(Rule 5). The Secretary
UDD in addition to being primarily
responsible for implementation of MSW
Rules shall also be responsible for
supervising and monitoring functioning
of all other authorities:

¶513

(b)The responsibility of the aforesaid
Nodal Officers/ Authorized Officers will
include all issues relating to solid
waste management from identification of
the land fill site, dumping sites, waste
treatment facility sites, obtaining
requisite permissions from Maharashtra

¶514

pil33.18

¶515

¶516

PollutionControlBoard(MPCB),
segregation and transport of solid waste
the treatment of solid waste and all
other related matters.

¶517

6.The general issues shall be
classified on the basis of availability
of facilities with local authority for
the aforesaid purposes as follows:

¶518

(a)local authorities which do not have
designated / approved dumping site/land
fill sites at all,

¶519

(b)the local authorities which have
such sites available at present but are
inadequate,

¶520

(c)the local authorities which have
sites which are being operated as land
fill sites/ dumping grounds but are non-
compliant with MSW Rules and MPCB
authorization and

¶521

(d)the local authorities which do not
have provisions of solid waste treatment
facilities.

¶522

Re: Local authorities which do not have
the land fill sites/dumping ground :

¶523

7. (a) The authorized officer/ local
authority shall take steps for
acquisition of notified/ designated site
for this purpose either in the Regional
Plan or the Development Plan within a
period of two weeks either under the
provisions of Land Acquisition Act,
1894, Maharashtra Regional & Town
Planning Act, 1966 or by mutual
agreement with land owners.

¶524

(b)The process of selection and
acquisition of sites including taking
possessionshallbecompleted
expeditiously and not later than six

¶525

pil33.18

¶526

¶527

weeks in accordance with, the guidelines
prescribed in the Government Resolution
dated 5th October 2012, Annexure-1 as
well as GR dated 26th August, 2003.

¶528

(c)The selection of site shall also
take into consideration appropriateness
and suitability of site from viewpoint
of CRZ Notification, EIA
Notification and other Environmental
LawsincludingForestLawsas
applicable.

¶529

(d)Wherever the Local Authority has an
approved authorized site for land fill/
dumping, the local authority shall
immediately take steps to make it
operational for that purpose within a
period of 4 weeks.

¶530

(e) On selection, identification and
acquisition of sites, the local
authorities shall make the appropriate
application not later than two weeks
after taking possession of site, to the
Pollution Control Board under Rule 6 of
MSW Rules for authorization.

¶531

(f)The MPCB shall process the
application and grant the authorization
in accordance with the provisions of Air
Act and Water Act and MSW Rules 2000
preferably within a period of two weeks
end not later than from receipt of
application complete in all respects.

¶532

(g)On the aforesaid compliances the
site shall be used by the concerned
local authorities for land fill /
dumping strictly in accordance with the
MSW Rules 2000 and authorization granted
by MPCB.

¶533

(h)The Nodal Officers / Authorized
Officer shall monitor periodically the
operation of such sites and compliance

¶534

pil33.18

¶535

¶536

with MSW Rules and MPCB authorization
on fortnightly basis and make report and
take remedial measures to ensure
compliance.

¶537

(i)In case there are no designated /
notified sites the State Government
shall assist such Local authority to
identify, select and acquire the
requisite site and notify or designate
the same for land fill/dumping of MSW.
The State Government shall initiate
steps for this purpose preferably within
two weeks from this order and complete
the process as per statutory provisions
for designation of the site.

¶538

(j)In case the site designated within
the area of local authorities is
encroached upon the local authorities
shall initiate action for removal of
encroachment within two weeks, including
but not limited to, in accordance with
the relevant Municipal law or the
Maharashtra Land Revenue Code as the
case may be for eviction of such
unauthorized encroachers. In the event
of such actions being taken no Court or
authority in the State shall entertain
any application or proceedings or suit
in respect of such eviction and any such
proceeding shall be filed only in this
Court.

¶539

(k)In case there are any proceedings
pending/orders passed in respect of any
sites within the jurisdiction of Local
Authority, such authority shall
immediately take steps to get the stay
orders vacated and/or bring it to the
notice of this Court for appropriate
directions.

¶540

Re: Local authorities which have
inadequate facilities:

¶541

pil33.18

¶542

¶543

8.(a)The local authority will
assess the need for the sites by taking
into account the existing population and
growth of population upto atleast next
30 years.

¶544

(b)The local authorities shall
takestepsforselection,
identification and acquisition of
additional sites by following the
directions in the preceding paragraph
under the heading “Re : Local
authorities which do not have the land
fill sites / dumping grounds.”

¶545

Re: The Local authorities which have
facilities which are non- compliant with
MSW Rules 2000 and MPCB authorization:

¶546

9.The MPCB shall make report in
respect of each of the designated
dumping site within jurisdiction of all
MunicipalCorporations,Municipal
Councils and Panchayats to ensure
Compliance with MSW Rules and these
directions and directions of the Supreme
Court. This exercise to be completed
within a period of 8 weeks.

¶547

10.All dumping sites which do not
comply with MSW Rules and other
governing applicable laws and these
directions and the sites which are not
designated as per rules shall be
discontinued and closed within a period
of three months or an acquisition of new
site whichever is earlier.

¶548

11.All sites which have exceeded their
capacity shall be closed down as per
procedure under MSW Rules.

¶549

Re: The Local authorities which do not
have waste processing facilities:

¶550

12.The Local authorities shall take

¶551

pil33.18

¶552

¶553

steps for treatment of solid waste in
accordance with MSW Rules either through
themselves or through an identified
agency.

¶554

13.The Municipal Corporations and
Councils shall adopt measures as per
Schedule III of MSW Rules to ensure :

¶555

(i)Segregation of Municipal Solid
Wastes

¶556

(ii)Settingupfacilitiesfor
processing biodegradable wastes by
composting, vermi composting, anaerobic
digestion or any other biological
processing

¶557

(iii)Eventual elimination of landfilling
requirements for biodegradable wastes

¶558

(iv)The State Government shall take
decision on the pending proposals /
applications made by the local
authorities for grant of lands on lease
or otherwise, or grant of NOC etc.
within a period of 45 days from date of
this order.

¶559

(v)The Local authorities which have
not made such applications shall do so
within a period of 4 weeks to the State
Government and the State Government
shall take a decision thereon within 45
days thereafter.

¶560

14.SitesforComposting,Vermi
Composting etc.

¶561

(i)These sites shall also comply with
these directions and MSW Rules
(Schedule IV)

¶562

(ii)MPCB shall prescribe cap on storage
of wet garbage to be treated at these
sites so that the site does not become a

¶563

pil33.18

¶564

¶565

dumping ground

¶566

(iii)These sites shall also comply
with the Rules for storage of garbage as
permitted by MPCB under MSW Rules

¶567

(iv)In the event of non-compliance of
these directions MSW Rules and
parameters as regards, storage of wet
garbage limit of storage and operation
of composting or vermi compost plant,
the same shall be closed down and shall
not be re-operated until MPCB reports
remedial measures and its compliance.

¶568

15. General:

¶569

Action Plan for Treatment and Processing of Solid Waste

¶570

`Sr.` `No.`	`Action Plan Details`	`Time Schedule`
`1.`	`To develop mechanism for` `collection,` `segregation` `(at source / site) &` `transportation` `to` `processing facility &` `landfill site.`	`Within 2 months` `processing of lan`	`after` `d`
`2.`	`Settling` `up` `and` `Commissioning of Waste` `Processing Facility`
	`(a)` `Selecting` `of` `technology`	`Within 2 months` `possession of Lan`	`after` `d`
	`(b)` `Preparation` `of` `Detailed Project Report`	`Within 2 months` `selection` `technology`	`after` `of`
	`(c)Obtaining` `clearance` `from MCZMA/MOEF`	`Within 4 months` `submission` `of`	`from` `the`

¶571

pil33.18

¶572

¶573

		`proposal by the ULB`
	`(d) Inviting tenders and` `appointment of Agency`	`Within 2 months after` `obtaining` `clearance` `from MCZMA/MOEF`
	`(e) Issuance of Work` `Order with the time frame` `& necessary conditions by` `Municipal Authority`	`Within 1 month`
	`(f) Settling of MSW` `processing facility &` `making it operational`	`Within 18 months from` `the date of work order`
`3.`	`Development` `&` `Commissioning of secured` `landfill site`	`Within 12 months after` `possession of land`
`4.`	`Closure of cell & its` `monitoring for at least` `next fifteen years as per` `Rules.`	`After` `exhausting` `capacity` `of` `the` `existing cell`
`5.`	`Improving of existing` `facility`
	`(a) Closure of existing` `dump site if required as` `per MSW Rules`	`Within 16 months`
	`(b)` `Setting` `up` `and` `commissioning of waste` `processing facility if` `not available at existing` `site.`	`Within 24 months`
	`(c) Improvement in the` `existing waste processing` `facility` `and` `secured`	`Within 6 months`

¶574

pil33.18

¶575

¶576

	`landfill` `sit` `accordance with` `Rules.`	`e` `in` `the MSW`
	`(d) Development` `secured landfill` `existing site` `available.`	`of new` `site at` `if not`	`Within 12 months`
`6.`	`(a)` `Applicatio` `Authorization` `Municipal Authori` `4 (2))`	`n` `for` `by` `ty (Rule`	`As per Rules`
	`(b)` `Grant` `authorization` `processing faci` `landfill site.` `(2))`	`of` `a` `for` `lity &` `(Rule 6`	`As per Rules`

¶577

16.IntheSolidWaste/Garbage
Management following issues shall be
considered for long term and future
planning by Local authorities State and
Central Government and Pollution Control
Boards :

¶578

(i)Daily operations and maintenance of
Dumping and Land fill sites

¶579

(ii)Daily operation and maintenance of
WasteTreatmentFascilitiesof
Biodegradable Wastes

¶580

(iii) Fire protection during dump
leveling

¶581

(iv)Garbage Bio-Mining

¶582

(v)Closure of sites which have
attained their maximum capacity

¶583

pil33.18

¶584

¶585

(vi)Use of closed landfill sites as per
MSW Rules

¶586

(vii) Subsequent land-use

¶587

(viii)Water consumption for capping

¶588

(ix)Methane Generation

¶589

(x)Encouraging the Local Authority to
adopt these measures and comply the
directions to earn Carbon Credits.

¶590

17.The local authorities may for this
purpose explore the possibility of
assigning / awarding this work on Public
Private Partnership basis to Private
entrepreneurs who will undertake this
work in entirety including selection and
acquisition of land as well as
installation of treatment plants. For
this purpose the local authority may
resort to the process of Swiss challenge
as approved by the Supreme Court in the
case of Ravi Developers V/s. Shree
Krishna Pratishtha – 2009 (7) SCC 462.
The site so selected shall also strictly
comply with all applicable provisions of
MSW Rules, all other relevant laws and
these directions.

¶591

18.The Local Authority/ Corporations
shall issue directions to the residents
for solid waste segregation of garbage
as per rules and take steps for its
compliance.

¶592

19.TheStateGovernment/Local
Authorities shall give highest priority
for establishing / settling up common
facilities or land fill/dumping sites/
processing facilities.

¶593

20.Whenever permission is required
under the provisions of Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA notification),

¶594

pil33.18

¶595

¶596

CoastalRegulationZone(CRZ
Regulations), River Regulation Zone
Policy (RRZ) (RRZ policy), Forest Laws
etc. such authorities shall process and
consider the applications made by Local
Authority / Designated agency,
expeditiously within a period of 4 weeks
or as per the time limit prescribed in
the relevant rules.

¶597

21.It is clarified that wherever there
is a statutory period prescribed for
processing of any application grant of
clearance etc. the period prescribed
therein shall be applicable.

¶598

22.The directions contained in this
order are in addition to and
supplementary to directions already
given or orders passed in individual
Writ Petitions/ PILs.

¶599

23.Liberty to apply in case there is
exceptional problem or exigency."

¶600

.The Division Bench proceeded to pass the

¶601

order in terms of "Draft Minutes of Order" being

¶602

satisfied that said dispensation is not only
imperative but also fulfill the aspirations of the
statutory provisions in place. In the said order,
in clause 16 of the Draft Minutes of Order, it is

¶603

stated that, in the Solid Waste/ Garbage
Management issues mentioned in the said clause
shall be considered for long term and future

¶604

pil33.18

¶605

¶606

planning by Local authorities, State and Central
Government and Pollution Control Boards. One of

¶607

the issue is about closure of sites which have
attained their maximum capacity. Keeping in view
the said order, in the facts of the present case
also closure of site at Gut Nos.78 and 79 of
village Mandki is urgently warranted to avoid
further damage to environment, contamination to
water, spreading of further diseases, loss of life
of birds, animals and so also human beings, and
also due to the fact that Airport is situate
within 10 Kms. distance from the site.

¶608

22.There is historical background to

¶609

Aurangabad city and also it is industrial hub.
Historic places such as Ajanta and Elora,
Daulatabad Fort are near Aurangabad city. There

¶610

are also historic places such as Bibika Makbara,
Panchakki etc. in the local limits of Aurangabad

¶611

city. Therefore, every day, tourists and other
citizens from other part of Country visits the
city by air-travel.

¶612

pil33.18

¶613

¶614

23.At this juncture, it would be apt to

¶615

reproduce herein below the relevant provisions of
the Aircraft Act, 1934 and relevant rules of the
Aircraft Rules, 1937. Sections 5-A and 11-A of
the Aircraft Act reads as under:

¶616

"5A.Power to issue directions.- (1) The
Director-General of Civil Aviation or any
other officer specially empowered in this
behalf by the Central Government may, from
time to time, by order, issue directions,
consistent with the provisions of this Act
and the rules made thereunder, with respect
to any of the matters specified in clauses
(aa), (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), (ga), (gb),
(gc), (h), (i), (m) and (qq) of sub-section
(2) of section 5, to any person or persons
using any aerodrome or engaged in the
aircraft operations, air traffic control,
maintenance and operation of aerodrome,
communication, navigation, surveillance and
air traffic management facilities and
safeguarding civil aviation against acts of
unlawful interference, in any case where
the Director-General of Civil Aviation or
such other officer is satisfied that in the
interests of the security of India or for

¶617

pil33.18

¶618

¶619

securing the safety of aircraft operations
it is necessary so to do.

¶620

(2)Every direction issued under sub-
section (1) shall be complied with by the
person or persons to whom such direction is
issued.

¶621

11A.Penalty for failure to comply with
directions issued under section 5A.- If any
person willfully fails to comply with any
direction issued under section 5A, he shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to two years or with fine
which may extend to ten lakh rupees, or
with both."

¶622

.Section 10(1A) of the Aircraft Act, 1934 and

¶623

Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 reads thus:-

¶624

"(1A)If any person contravenes any
provision of any rule made under clause
(qq) of sub-section (2) of section 5
prohibiting the slaughter and flaying of
animals and of depositing rubbish, filth
and other polluted and obnoxious matter
within a radius of ten kilometres from the
aerodrome reference point, he shall be
punishable with imprisonment which may

¶625

pil33.18

¶626

¶627

extend to [three years, or with fine which
may extend to ten lakh rupees], or with
both."

¶628

"91.Prohibition of slaughtering and
flaying of animals, depositing of rubbish
and other polluted or obnoxious matter in
the vicinity of aerodrome.- No person
shall slaughter or flay any animal or
deposit or drop any rubbish, filth,
garbage or any other polluted or obnoxious
matter including such material from
hotels, meat shops, fish shops and bone-
processing mills which attracts or is
likely to attract vultures or other birds
and animals within a radius of ten
kilometers from the aerodrome reference
point :

¶629

Provided that the Director-General, a
Joint Director General of Civil Aviation
or a Deputy Director General of Civil
Aviation may, if he is satisfied that
proper and adequate arrangements have been
made by the owners of hotels, meat shops,
fish shops and bone processing mills so as
to prevent attraction of vultures or other
birds and animals, having regard to the
vicinity of place of slaughter from the
aerodrome, arrangements for disposal or

¶630

pil33.18

¶631

¶632

deposit of carcass, rubbish and other
polluted and obnoxious matter, grant
permission in writing for the purpose."

¶633

24.Keeping in view the aforesaid provisions
of the Aircraft Act, 1934 and the Aircraft Rules,
1937 and the fact that, distance of said site and
the Airport is within the radius of 10 Kms., there
is no alternative but to close the site.

¶634

25.The High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital
had occasion to deal with the provisions of the
Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, in the case of
Sai Nath Seva Mandal V/s State of Uttarakhand and
others)14. It would be gainful to reproduce herein
below the paragraphs nos.66 to 69 and 72 to 76 of

¶635

the said Judgment :

¶636

"66. The Central Government has framed the

¶637

SolidWasteManagementRules,2016

¶638

( hereinafter to be referred as ‘the Rules of 2016’ ). These Rules were notified on 8.2.2016. Under Rule 2, these Rules have been made applicable to every urban local body,

¶639

14 2017 SCC Online Utt 364

¶640

pil33.18

¶641

¶642

outgrowths in urban agglomerations, census
towns as declared by the Registrar General and
Census Commissioner of India, notified areas,
notified industrial townships, areas under the
control of Indian Railways, airports,
airbases, Ports and harbours, defence
establishments, special economic zones, State
and Central government organisations, places
of pilgrims, religious and historical
importance as may be notified by respective
State government from time to time and to
every domestic, institutional, commercial and
any other non residential solid waste
generator situated in the areas except
industrial waste, hazardous waste, hazardous
chemicals, bio medical wastes, e-waste, lead
acid batteries and radio-active waste, that
are covered under separate rules framed under
the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

¶643

67. For the sake of convenience, Rules 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19 and
20 of the Rules of 2016 are reproduced as
under:

¶644

4. Duties of waste generators.- (1) Every
waste generator shall,- (a) segregate and
store the waste generated by them in three
separate streams namely bio-degradable, non
biodegradable and domestic hazardous wastes in
suitable bins and handover segregated wastes
to authorised waste pickers or waste

¶645

pil33.18

¶646

¶647

collectors as per the direction or
notification by the local authorities from
time to time; (b) wrap securely the used
sanitary waste like diapers, sanitary pads
etc., in the pouches provided by the
manufacturers or brand owners of these
products or in a suitable wrapping material as
instructed by the local authorities and shall
place the same in the bin meant for dry waste
or non-bio-degradable waste; (c) store
separately construction and demolition waste,
as and when generated, in his own premises and
shall dispose off as per the Construction and
Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016; and
(d) store horticulture waste and garden waste
generated from his premises separately in his
own premises and dispose of as per the
directions of the local body from time to
time. (2) No waste generator shall throw, burn
or burry the solid waste generated by him, on
streets, open public spaces outside his
premises or in the drain or water bodies. (3)
All waste generators shall pay such user fee
for solid waste management, as specified in
the bye-laws of the local bodies. (4) No
person shall organise an event or gathering of
more than one hundred persons at any
unlicensed place without intimating the local
body, at least three working days in advance
and such person or the organiser of such event
shall ensure segregation of waste at source

¶648

pil33.18

¶649

¶650

and handing over of segregated waste to waste
collector or agency as specified by the local
body. (5) Every street vendor shall keep
suitable containers for storage of waste
generated during the course of his activity
such as food waste, disposable plates, cups,
cans, wrappers, coconut shells, leftover food,
vegetables, fruits, etc., and shall deposit
such waste at waste storage depot or container
or vehicle as notified by the local body. (6)
All resident welfare and market associations
shall, within one year from the date of
notification of these rules and in partnership
with the local body ensure segregation of
waste at source by the generators as
prescribed in these rules, facilitate
collection of segregated waste in separate
streams, handover recyclable material to
either the authorised waste pickers or the
authorised recyclers. The bio-degradable waste
shall be processed, treated and disposed off
through composting or biomethanation within
the premises as far as possible. The residual
waste shall be given to the waste collectors
or agency as directed by the local body. (7)
All gated communities and institutions with
more than 5,000 sqm area shall, within one
year from the date of notification of these
rules and in partnership with the local body,
ensure segregation of waste at source by the
generators as prescribed in these rules,

¶651

pil33.18

¶652

¶653

facilitate collection of segregated waste in
separate streams, handover recyclable material
to either the authorised waste pickers or the
authorizsd recyclers. The bio-degradable waste
shall be processed, treated and disposed off
through composting or bio-methanation within
the premises as far as possible. The residual
waste shall be given to the waste collectors
or agency as directed by the local body. (8)
All hotels and restaurants shall, within one
year from the date of notification of these
rules and in partnership with the local body
ensure segregation of waste at source as
prescribed in these rules, facilitate
collection of segregated waste in separate
streams, handover recyclable material to
either the authorised waste pickers or the
authorised recyclers. The bio-degradable waste
shall be processed, treated and disposed off
through composting or bio-methanation within
the premises as far as possible. The residual
waste shall be given to the waste collectors
or agency as directed by the local body.

¶654

5. Duties of Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change.- (1) The Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change shall
be responsible for over all monitoring the
implementation of these rules in the country.
It shall constitute a Central Monitoring
Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary,
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate

¶655

pil33.18

¶656

¶657

Change comprising officer not below the rank
of Joint Secretary or Advisor from the
following namely,- 1) Ministry of Urban
Development 2) Ministry of Rural Development
3) Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers 4)
Ministry of Agriculture 5) Central Pollution
Control Board 6) Three State Pollution Control
Boards or Pollution Control Committees by
rotation 7) Urban Development Departments of
three State Governments by rotation 8) Rural
Development Departments from two State
Governments by rotation 9) Three Urban Local
bodies by rotation 10) Two census towns by
rotation 11) FICCI, CII 12) Two subject
experts.

¶658

2. This Central Monitoring Committee shall
meet at least once in a year to monitor and
review the implementation of these rules. The
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change may co-opt other experts, if needed.
The Committee shall be renewed every three
years.

¶659

6. Duties of Ministry of Urban Development.-
(1) The Ministry of Urban Development shall
coordinate with State Governments and Union
territory Administrations to,- (a) take
periodic review of the measures taken by the
states and local bodies for improving solid
waste management practices and execution of
solid waste management projects funded by the

¶660

pil33.18

¶661

¶662

Ministry and external agencies at least once
in a year and give advice on taking corrective
measures; (b) formulate national policy and
strategy on solid waste management including
policy on waste to energy in consultation with
stakeholders within six months from the date
of notification of these rules; (c) facilitate
States and Union Territories in formulation of
state policy and strategy on solid management
based on national solid waste management
policy and national urban sanitation policy;
(d) promote research and development in solid
waste management sector and disseminate
information to States and local bodies; (e)
undertake training and capacity building of
local bodies and other stakeholders; and (f)
provide technical guidelines and project
finance to states, Union territories and local
bodies on solid waste management to facilitate
meeting timelines and standards.

¶663

7.Duties of Department of Fertilisers,
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.- (1)
The Department of Fertilisers through
appropriate mechanisms shall,- (a) provide
market development assistance on city compost;
and (b) ensure promotion of co-marketing of
compost with chemical fertilisers in the ratio
of 3 to 4 bags: 6 to 7 bags by the fertiliser
companies to the extent compost is made
available for marketing to the companies.

¶664

pil33.18

¶665

¶666

8.Duties of Ministry of Agriculture,
GovernmentofIndia-TheMinistryof
Agriculture through appropriate mechanisms
shall,- (a) provide flexibility in Fertiliser
Control Order for manufacturing and sale of
compost; (b) propagate utlisation of compost
on farm land; (c) set up laboratories to test
quality of compost produced by local
authorities or their authorised agencies; and
(d) issue suitable guidelines for maintaining
the quality of compost and ratio of use of
compost visa-a-vis chemical fertilizers while
applying compost to farmland.

¶667

9. Duties of the Ministry of Power.- The
Ministry of Power through appropriate
mechanisms shall,- (a) decide tariff or
charges for the power generated from the waste
to energy plants based on solid waste. (b)
compulsory purchase power generated from such
waste to energy plants by distribution
company.

¶668

10. Duties of Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy Sources.- The Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy Sources through appropriate
mechanismsshall,-(a)facilitate
infrastructure creation for waste to energy
plants; and (b) provide appropriate subsidy or
incentives for such waste to energy plants.

¶669

11. Duties of the Secretary-in-charge, Urban
Development in the States and Union

¶670

pil33.18

¶671

¶672

territories- (1) The Secretary, Urban
Development Department in the State or Union
territory through the Commissioner or Director
of Municipal Administration or Director of
local bodies shall,- (a) prepare a state
policy and solid waste management strategy for
the state or the union territory in
consultation with stakeholders including
representative of waste pickers, self help
group and similar groups working in the field
of waste management consistent with these
rules, national policy on solid waste
management and national urban sanitation
policy of the ministry of urban development,
in a period not later than one year from the
date of notification of these rules; (b) while
preparing State policy and strategy on solid
waste management, lay emphasis on waste
reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery and
optimum utilisation of various components of
solid waste to ensure minimisation of waste
going to the landfill and minimise impact of
solid waste on human health and environment;
(c) state policies and strategies should
acknowledge the primary role played by the
informal sector of waste pickers, waste
collectors and recycling industry in reducing
waste and provide broad guidelines regarding
integration of waste picker or informal waste
collectors in the waste management system. (d)
ensure implementation of provisions of these

¶673

pil33.18

¶674

¶675

rules by all local authorities; (e) direct the
town planning department of the State to
ensure that master plan of every city in the
State or Union territory provisions for
setting up of solid waste processing and
disposal facilities except for the cities who
are members of common waste processing
facility or regional sanitary landfill for a
group of cities; and (f) ensure identification
and allocation of suitable land to the local
bodies within one year for setting up of
processing and disposal facilities for solid
wastes and incorporate them in the master
plans (land use plan) of the State or as the
case may be, cities through metropolitan and
district planning committees or town and
country planning department; (h) direct the
town planning department of the State and
local bodies to ensure that a separate space
for segregation, storage, decentralised
processing of solid waste is demarcated in the
development plan for group housing or
commercial, institutional or any other non-
residential complex exceeding 200 dwelling or
having a plot area exceeding 5,000 square
meters; (i) direct the developers of Special
Economic Zone, Industrial Estate, Industrial
Park to earmark at least five percent of the
total area of the plot or minimum five plots
or sheds for recovery and recycling facility.
(j) facilitate establishment of common

¶676

pil33.18

¶677

¶678

regional sanitary land fill for a group of
cities and towns falling within a distance of
50 km (or more) from the regional facility on
a cost sharing basis and ensure professional
management of such sanitary landfills; (k)
arrange for capacity building of local bodies
in managing solid waste, segregation and
transportation or processing of such waste at
source; (l) notify buffer zone for the solid
waste processing and disposal facilities of
more than five tons per day in consultation
with the State Pollution Control Board; and
(m) start a scheme on registration of waste
pickers and waste dealers.

¶679

12. Duties of District Magistrate or District
Collector or Deputy Commissioner.- The
District Magistrate or District Collector or
as the case may be, the Deputy Commissioner
shall, - (a) facilitate identification and
allocation of suitable land as per clause (f)
of rules 11 for setting up solid waste
processing and disposal facilities to local
authorities in his district in close
coordination with the Secretary-in-charge of
State Urban Development Department within one
year from the date of notification of these
rules; (b) review the performance of local
bodies, at least once in a quarter on waste
segregation,processing,treatmentand
disposal and take corrective measures in
consultation with the Commissioner or Director

¶680

pil33.18

¶681

¶682

of Municipal Administration or Director of
local bodies and secretary-in-charge of the
State Urban Development.

¶683

13. Duties of the Secretary-in-charge of
Village Panchayats or Rural Development
Department in the State and Union territory-
(1) The Secretary-in-charge of Village
Panchayats or Rural Development Department in
the State and Union territory shall have the
same duties as the Secretary-in-charge, Urban
Development in the States and Union
territories, for the areas which are covered
under these rules and are under their
jurisdictions.

¶684

14. Duties of Central Pollution Control Board-
The Central Pollution Control Board shall, (a)
co-ordinate with the State Pollution Control
Boards and the Pollution Control Committees
for implementation of these rules and
adherence to the prescribed standards by local
authorities; (b) formulate the standards for
ground water, ambient air, noise pollution,
leachate in respect of all solid waste
processing and disposal facilities; (c) review
environmental standards and norms prescribed
for solid waste processing facilities or
treatment technologies and update them as and
when required; (d) review through State
Pollution Control Boards or Pollution Control
Committees, at least once in a year, the

¶685

pil33.18

¶686

¶687

implementation of prescribed environmental
standards for solid waste processing
facilities or treatment technologies and
compile the data monitored by them; (e) review
the proposals of State Pollution Control
Boards or Pollution Control Committees on use
of any new technologies for processing,
recycling and treatment of solid waste and
prescribe performance standards, emission
norms for the same within 6 months; (f)
monitor through State Pollution Control Boards
orPollutionControlCommitteesthe
implementation of these rules by local bodies;
(g) prepare an annual report on implementation
of these rules on the basis of reports
received from State Pollution Control Boards
and Committees and submit to the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the
report shall also be put in public domain; (h)
publish guidelines for maintaining buffer zone
restricting any residential, commercial or any
other construction activity from the outer
boundary of the waste processing and disposal
facilities for different sizes of facilities
handling more than five tons per day of solid
waste; (i) publish guidelines, from time to
time, on environmental aspects of processing
and disposal of solid waste to enable local
bodies to comply with the provisions of these
rules; and (j) provide guidance to States or
Union territories on inter-state movement of

¶688

pil33.18

¶689

¶690

waste.

¶691

15. Duties and responsibilities of local
authorities and village Panchayats of census
towns and urban agglomerations- The local
authorities and Panchayats shall,- (a) prepare
a solid waste management plan as per state
policy and strategy on solid waste management
within six months from the date of
notification of state policy and strategy and
submit a copy to respective departments of
StateGovernmentorUnionterritory
Administration or agency authorised by the
StateGovernmentorUnionterritory
Administration; (b) arrange for door to door
collection of segregated solid waste from all
households including slums and informal
settlements, commercial, institutional and
other non residential premises. From multi-
storage buildings, large commercial complexes,
malls, housing complexes, etc., this may be
collected from the entry gate or any other
designated location; (c) establish a system to
recognise organisations of waste pickers or
informal waste collectors and promote and
establish a system for integration of these
authorised waste-pickers and waste collectors
to facilitate their participation in solid
waste management including door to door
collection of waste; (d) facilitate formation
of Self Help Groups, provide identity cards
and thereafter encourage integration in solid

¶692

pil33.18

¶693

¶694

waste management including door to door
collection of waste; (e) frame bye-laws
incorporating the provisions of these rules
within one year from the date of notification
oftheserulesandensuretimely
implementation; (f) prescribe from time to
time user fee as deemed appropriate and
collect the fee from the waste generators on
its own or through authorised agency; (g)
direct waste generators not to litter i.e.
throw or dispose of any waste such as paper,
water bottles, liquor bottles, soft drink
canes, tetra packs, fruit peel, wrappers,
etc., or burn or burry waste on streets, open
public spaces, drains, waste bodies and to
segregate the waste at source as prescribed
under these rules and hand over the segregated
waste to authorised the waste pickers or waste
collectors authorised by the local body; (h)
setup material recovery facilities or
secondary storage facilities with sufficient
space for sorting of recyclable materials to
enable informal or authorised waste pickers
and waste collectors to separate recyclables
from the waste and provide easy access to
waste pickers and recyclers for collection of
segregated recyclable waste such as paper,
plastic, metal, glass, textile from the source
of generation or from material recovery
facilities; Bins for storage of bio-degradable
wastes shall be painted green, those for

¶695

pil33.18

¶696

¶697

storage of recyclable wastes shall be printed
white and those for storage of other wastes
shall be printed black; (i) establish waste
deposition centres for domestic hazardous
waste and give direction for waste generators
to deposit domestic hazardous wastes at this
centre for its safe disposal. Such facility
shall be established in a city or town in a
manner that one centre is set up for the area
of twenty square kilometers or part thereof
and notify the timings of receiving domestic
hazardous waste at such centres; (j) ensure
safe storage and transportation of the
domestic hazardous waste to the hazardous
waste disposal facility or as may be directed
by the State Pollution Control Board or the
Pollution Control Committee; (k) direct street
sweepers not to burn tree leaves collected
from street sweeping and store them separately
and handover to the waste collectors or agency
authorised by local body; (l) provide training
on solid waste management to waste-pickers and
waste collectors; (m) collect waste from
vegetable, fruit, flower, meat, poultry and
fish market on day to day basis and promote
setting up of decentralised compost plant or
bio-methanation plant at suitable locations in
the markets or in the vicinity of markets
ensuring hygienic conditions; (n) collect
separately waste from sweeping of streets,
lanes and by-lanes daily, or on alternate days

¶698

pil33.18

¶699

¶700

or twice a week depending on the density of
population, commercial activity and local
situation; (o) set up covered secondary
storage facility for temporary storage of
street sweepings and silt removed from surface
drains in cases where direct collection of
such waste into transport vehicles is not
convenient. Waste so collected shall be
collected and disposed of at regular intervals
as decided by the local body; (p) collect
horticulture, parks and garden waste
separately and process in the parks and
gardens, as far as possible; (q) transport
segregated bio-degradable waste to the
processing facilities like compost plant, bio-
methanation plant or any such facility.
Preference shall be given for on site
processing of such waste; (r) transport non-
bio-degradable waste to the respective
processing facility or material recovery
facilities or secondary storage facility; (s)
transport construction and demolition waste as
per the provisions of the Construction and
Demolition Waste management Rules, 2016; (t)
involve communities in waste management and
promotion of home composting, bio-gas
generation, decentralised processing of waste
at community level subject to control of odour
and maintenance of hygienic conditions around
the facility; (u) phase out the use of
chemical fertilizer in two years and use

¶701

pil33.18

¶702

¶703

compost in all parks, gardens maintained by
the local body and wherever possible in other
places under its jurisdiction. Incentives may
be provided to recycling initiatives by
informal waste recycling sector. (v)
facilitateconstruction,operationand
maintenance of solid waste processing
facilities and associated infrastructure on
their own or with private sector participation
or through any agency for optimum utilisation
of various components of solid waste adopting
suitable technology including the following
technologies and adhering to the guidelines
issued by the Ministry of Urban Development
from time to time and standards prescribed by
the Central Pollution Control Board.
Preference shall be given to decentralised
processing to minimize transportation cost and
environmental impacts such as- a) bio-
methanation, microbial composting, vermi-
composting, anaerobic digestion or any other
appropriate processing for bio-stabilisation
of biodegradable wastes; b) waste to energy
processes including refused derived fuel for
combustible fraction of waste or supply as
feedstock to solid waste based power plants or
cement kilns; (w) undertake on their own or
through any other agency construction,
operation and maintenance of sanitary landfill
and associated infrastructure as per Schedule
1 for disposal of residual wastes in a manner

¶704

pil33.18

¶705

¶706

prescribed under these rules; (x) make
adequate provision of funds for capital
investments as well as operation and
maintenance of solid waste management services
in the annual budget ensuring that funds for
discretionary functions of the local body have
been allocated only after meeting the
requirement of necessary funds for solid waste
management and other obligatory functions of
the local body as per these rules; (y) make an
application in Form-I for grant of
authorisation for setting up waste processing,
treatment or disposal facility, if the volume
of waste is exceeding five metric tones per
day including sanitary landfills from the
State Pollution Control Board or the Pollution
Control Committee, as the case may be; (z)
submitapplicationforrenewalof
authorisation at least sixty days before the
expiry of the validity of authorisation; (za)
prepare and submit annual report in Form IV on
or before the 30th April of the succeeding
year to the Commissioner or Director,
MunicipalAdministrationordesignated
Officer; (zb) the annual report shall then be
sent to the Secretary-in-Charge of the State
Urban Development Department or village
panchayat or rural development department and
to the respective State Pollution Control
Board or Pollution Control Committee by the
31st May of every year; (zc) educate workers

¶707

pil33.18

¶708

¶709

including contract workers and supervisors for
door to door collection of segregated waste
and transporting the unmixed waste during
primary and secondary transportation to
processing or disposal facility; (zd) ensure
that the operator of a facility provides
personal protection equipment including
uniform, fluorescent jacket, hand gloves,
raincoats, appropriate foot wear and masks to
all workers handling solid waste and the same
are used by the workforce; (ze) ensure that
provisions for setting up of centers for
collection, segregation and storage of
segregated wastes, are incorporated in
building plan while granting approval of
building plan of a group housing society or
market complex; and (zf) frame bye-laws and
prescribe criteria for levying of spot fine
for persons who litters or fails to comply
with the provisions of these rules and
delegate powers to officers or local bodies to
levy spot fines as per the bye laws framed;
and (zg) create public awareness through
information, education and communication
campaign and educate the waste generators on
the following; namely: (i) not to litter; (ii)
minimise generation of waste; (iii) reuse the
waste to the extent possible; (iv) practice
segregation of waste into bio-degradable, non-
biodegradable (recyclable and combustible),
sanitary waste and domestic hazardous wastes

¶710

pil33.18

¶711

¶712

at source; (v) practice home composting,
vermi-composting, bio-gas generation or
community level composting; (vi) wrap securely
used sanitary waste as and when generated in
the pouches provided by the brand owners or a
suitable wrapping as prescribed by the local
body and place the same in the bin meant for
nonbiodegradable waste; (vii) storage of
segregated waste at source in different bins;
(viii) handover segregated waste to waste
pickers, waste collectors, recyclers or waste
collection agencies; and (ix) pay monthly user
fee or charges to waste collectors or local
bodies or any other person authorised by the
local body for sustainability of solid waste
management. (zh) stop land filling or dumping
of mixed waste soon after the timeline as
specified in rule 23 for setting up and
operationalisation of sanitary landfill is
over; (zi) allow only the non-usable, non-
recyclable, non-biodegradable, non-combustible
and non-reactive inert waste and pre-
processing rejects and residues from waste
processing facilities to go to sanitary
landfill and the sanitary landfill sites shall
meet the specifications as given in Schedule-
I, however, every effort shall be made to
recycle or reuse the rejects to achieve the
desired objective of zero waste going to
landfill; (zj) investigate and analyse all old
open dumpsites and existing operational

¶713

pil33.18

¶714

¶715

dumpsites for their potential of biomining and
bioremediation and wheresoever feasible, take
necessary actions to bio-mine or bio-remediate
the sites; (zk) in absence of the potential of
bio-mining and bio-remediation of dumpsite, it
shall be scientifically capped as per landfill
capping norms to prevent further damage to the
environment.

¶716

16. Duties of State Pollution Control Board or
Pollution Control Committee.- (1) The State
Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control
Committee shall,- (a) enforce these rules in
their State through local bodies in their
respectivejurisdictionandreview
implementation of these rules at least twice a
year in close coordination with concerned
Directorate of Municipal Administration or
Secretary-in-charge of State Urban Development
Department;(b)monitorenvironmental
standards and adherence to conditions as
specified under the Schedule I and Schedule II
for waste processing and disposal sites; (c)
examine the proposal for authorisation and
make such inquiries as deemed fit, after the
receipt of the application for the same in
Form I from the local body or any other agency
authorised by the local body; (d) while
examining the proposal for authorisation, the
requirement of consents under respective

¶717

pil33.18

¶718

¶719

enactments and views of other agencies like
the State Urban Development Department, the
Town and Country Planning Department, District
Planning Committee or Metropolitan Area
Planning Committee, as may be applicable,
Airport or Airbase Authority, the Ground Water
Board, Railways, power distribution companies,
highway department and other relevant agencies
shall be taken into consideration and they
shall be given four weeks time to give their
views, if any; (e) issue authorisation within
a period of sixty days in Form II to the local
body or an operator of a facility or any other
agency authorised by local body stipulating
compliancecriteriaandenvironmental
standards as specified in Schedules I and II
including other conditions, as may be
necessary; (f) synchronise the validity of
said authorisation with the validity of the
consents; (g) suspend or cancel the
authorization issued under clause (a) any
time, if the local body or operator of the
facility fails to operate the facility as per
the conditions stipulated: provided that no
such authorization shall be suspended or
cancelled without giving notice to the local
body or operator, as the case may be; and (h)
on receipt of application for renewal, renew
the authorisation for next five years, after
examining every application on merit and
subject to the condition that the operator of

¶720

pil33.18

¶721

¶722

the facility has fulfilled all the provisions
of the rules, standards or conditions
specified in the authorisation, consents or
environment clearance. (2) The State Pollution
Control Board or Pollution Control Committee
shall, after giving reasonable opportunity of
being heard to the applicant and for reasons
thereof to be recorded in writing, refuse to
grant or renew an authorisation. (3) In case
of new technologies, where no standards have
been prescribed by the Central Pollution
Control Board, State Pollution Control Board
or Pollution Control Committee, as the case
may be, shall approach Central Pollution
Control Board for getting standards specified.
(4) The State Pollution Control Board or the
Pollution Control Committee, as the case may
be, shall monitor the compliance of the
standards as prescribed or laid down and
treatment technology as approved and the
conditions stipulated in the authorisation and
the standards specified in Schedules I and II
under these rules as and when deemed
appropriate but not less than once in a year.
(5) The State Pollution Control Board or the
Pollution Control Committee may give
directions to local bodies for safe handling
and disposal of domestic hazardous waste
deposited by the waste generators at hazardous
waste deposition facilities. (6) The State
Pollution Control Board or the Pollution

¶723

pil33.18

¶724

¶725

Control Committee shall regulate Inter-State
movement of waste.

¶726

19. Criteria for Duties regarding setting-up
solid waste processing and treatment
facility.- (1) The department in-charge of the
allocation of land assignment shall be
responsible for providing suitable land for
setting up of the solid waste processing and
treatment facilities and notify such sites by
the State Government or Union territory
Administration. (2) The operator of the
facility shall design and set up the facility
as per the technical guidelines issued by the
Central Pollution Control Board in this regard
from time to time and the manual on solid
waste management prepared by the Ministry of
Urban Development. (3) The operator of the
facility shall obtain necessary approvals from
the State Pollution Control Board or Pollution
Control Committee. (4) The State Pollution
Control Board or Pollution Control Committee
shall monitor the environment standards of the
operation of the solid waste processing and
treatment facilities. (5) The operator of the
facility shall be responsible for the safe and
environmentally sound operations of the solid
waste processing and or treatment facilities
as per the guidelines issued by the Central
Pollution Control Board from time to time and

¶727

pil33.18

¶728

¶729

the Manual on Municipal Solid Waste Management
published by the Ministry of Urban Development
and updated from time to time. (6) The
operator of the solid waste processing and
treatment facility shall submit annual report
in Form III each year by 30th April to the
State Pollution Control Board or Pollution
Committee and concerned local body.

¶730

20. Criteria and actions to be taken for solid
waste management in hilly areas- In the hilly
areas, the duties and responsibilities of the
local authorities shall be the same as
mentioned in rule 15 with additional clauses
as under: (a) Construction of landfill on the
hill shall be avoided. A transfer station at a
suitable enclosed location shall be setup to
collect residual waste from the processing
facility and inert waste. A suitable land
shall be identified in the plain areas down
the hill within 25 kilometers for setting up
sanitary landfill. The residual waste from the
transfer station shall be disposed of at this
sanitary landfill. (b) In case of non-
availability of such land, efforts shall be
made to set up regional sanitary landfill for
the inert and residual waste. (c) Local body
shall frame Bye-laws and prohibit citizen from
littering wastes on the streets and give
strict direction to the tourists not to

¶731

pil33.18

¶732

¶733

dispose any waste such as paper, water
bottles, liquor bottles, soft drink canes,
tetra packs, any other plastic or paper waste
on the streets or down the hills and instead
direct to deposit such waste in the litter
bins that shall be placed by the local body at
all tourist destinations. (d) Local body shall
arrange to convey the provisions of solid
waste management under the bye-laws to all
tourists visiting the hilly areas at the entry
point in the town as well as through the
hotels, guest houses or like where they stay
and by putting suitable hoardings at tourist
destinations. (e) Local body may levy solid
waste management charge from the tourist at
the entry point to make the solid waste
management services sustainable. (f) The
department in-charge of the allocation of land
assignment shall identify and allot suitable
space on the hills for setting up
decentralised waste processing facilities.
Local body shall set up such facilities. Step
garden system may be adopted for optimum
utilisation of hill space.”

¶734

68. It is evident from Rule 2 that the Rules
of 2016 have been made applicable to every
urban local body, outgrowths in urban
agglomerations, census towns as declared by
the Registrar General and Census Commissioner
of India, notified areas, notified industrial
townships, areas under the control of Indian

¶735

pil33.18

¶736

¶737

Railways, airports, airbases, Ports and
harbours etc. Rule 4 imposes duties of waste
generators. Every waste generator under Rule
4(1)(a) is required to segregate and store the
waste generated by them in three separate
streamsnamelybio-degradable,non
biodegradable and domestic hazardous wastes in
suitable bins and handover segregated wastes
to the authorised waste pickers or waste
collectors as per the direction or
notification issued by the local authorities
from time to time. Under Rule 4(1)(b), the
waste generator is also required to wrap
securely the used sanitary waste like diapers,
sanitary pads etc., in the pouches provided by
the manufacturers or brand owners of these
products or in a suitable wrapping material,
as instructed by the local authorities. It is
required to place the same in the bin meant
for dry waste or non-bio-degradable waste.
Under Rule 4(1)(c), the waste generator is
required to separately store the construction
and demolition waste, as and when generated,
in his own premises and to dispose of the same
as per the Construction and Demolition Waste
Management Rules, 2016. Under sub-rule (1)(d)
of Rule 4, the waste generator is required to
store horticulture waste and garden waste
generated from his premises separately in his
own premises and dispose of the same as per
the directions of the local body issued from

¶738

pil33.18

¶739

¶740

time to time.

¶741

69. Sub-rule (4) of Rule 4 of the Rules of
2016 provides that no person shall organise an
event or gathering of more than one hundred
persons at any unlicensed place without
intimating the local body, at least three
working days in advance and such person or the
organiser of such event shall ensure
segregation of waste at source and handing
over of segregated waste to waste collector or
agency as specified by the local body. As per
sub-rule (5) of Rule 4, every street vendor is
required to keep suitable containers for
storage of waste generated during the course
of his activity such as food waste, disposable
plates, cups, cans, wrappers, coconut shells,
leftover food, vegetables, fruits, etc. Sub-
rule (6) of Rule 4 provides that all resident
welfare and market associations shall, within
one year from the date of notification of
these rules and in partnership with the local
body ensure segregation of waste at source by
the generators as prescribed in these rules,
facilitate collection of segregated waste in
separate streams, handover recyclable material
to either the authorised waste pickers or the
authorised recyclers. Similarly, under sub-
rule (8) of Rule 4, all hotels and
restaurants, within one year from the date of
notification of these rules and in partnership
with the local body, are required to ensure

¶742

pil33.18

¶743

¶744

segregation of waste at source as prescribed
in these rules and facilitate collection of
segregated waste in separate streams. Sub-rule
(1) of Rule 11 provides that the Secretary,
Urban Development Department in the State or
Union territory through the Commissioner or
Director of Municipal Administration or
Director of local bodies, is required to
prepare a state policy and solid waste
management strategy for the state or the union
territory in consultation with stakeholders
including representative of waste pickers,
self help group and similar groups working in
the field of waste management. However, while
preparing State policy and strategy on solid
waste management, the emphasis must be on the
waste reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery
and optimum utilisation of various components
of solid waste. The Secretary, Urban
Development of the State is also required to
ensure implementation of provisions of the
Rules by all local bodies. He is supposed to
direct the Town Planning Department of the
State to ensure that the master plan of every
city in the State or Union territory
provisions for setting up of solid waste
processing and disposal facilities except for
the cities which are the members of common
waste processing facility or regional sanitary
landfill for a group of cities. The Secretary
is also required to ensure identification and

¶745

pil33.18

¶746

¶747

allocation of suitable land to the local
bodies within one year for setting up of
processing and disposal facilities for solid
wastes and incorporate them in the master
plans. Similarly, under Rule 12 of the Rules,
the District Magistrate or District Collector
or as the case may be, the Deputy
Commissioner, is required to facilitate
identification and allocation of suitable land
as per clause (f) of rules 11 for setting up
solid waste processing and disposal facilities
to local authorities in his district in close
coordination with the Secretary-in-charge of
State Urban Development Department within one
year from the date of notification. The duties
of Central Pollution Control Board and State
Pollution Control Board are provided under
Rule 14 of the Rules, as quoted, hereinabove.
Rule 15 of the Rules lays down the duties and
responsibilities of local authorities and
village Panchayats of census towns and urban
agglomerations. The local authorities and
Panchayats are required to prepare a solid
waste management plan as per the state policy
and strategy on solid waste management within
six months from the date of notification of
state policy and strategy and submit a copy to
respective departments of State Government or
Union territory. They are also required to
arrange door to door collection of segregated
solid waste from all households including

¶748

pil33.18

¶749

¶750

slums and informal settlements, commercial,
institutional and other non residential
premises etc. They are also supposed to frame
bye-laws incorporating the provisions of the
Rules within one year from the date of
notification of these Rules and also to create
public awareness among the citizens of the
State. Under Rule 16 of the Rules, the duties
of State Pollution Control Board or Pollution
Control Committee have been prescribed. There
is a separate rule i.e. Rule 20 dealing with
the criteria and actions to be taken for solid
waste management in hilly areas.

¶751

72. The Central Government has framed the Rules called as Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 ( hereinafter to be referred as the ‘Rules of 2016’ ). These Rules have come into force w.e.f. 28.3.2016. Rule 3 of the Rules is the dictionary clause. The duties of operator of a common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility are provided under Rule 5 of the Rules of 2016. The duties of authorities are provided under Rule 6.

¶752

73. Rule 4 of the Rules, which defines the
duties of the Occupier, reads as under:

¶753

“4. Duties of the Occupier.- It shall be the
duty of every occupier to-

¶754

(a) take all necessary steps to ensure that

¶755

pil33.18

¶756

¶757

bio-medical waste is handled without any
adverse effect to human health and the
environment and in accordance with these
rules;

¶758

(b) make a provision within the premises for a
safe, ventilated and secured location for
storage of segregated biomedical waste in
colored bags or containers in the manner as
specified in Schedule I, to ensure that there
shall be no secondary handling, pilferage of
recyclables or inadvertent scattering or
spillage by animals and the biomedical waste
from such place or premises shall be directly
transported in the manner as prescribed in
these rules to the common bio-medical waste
treatment facility or for the appropriate
treatment and disposal, as the case may be, in
the manner as prescribed in Schedule I;

¶759

(c)pre-treatthelaboratorywaste,
microbiological waste, blood samples and blood
bags through disinfection or sterilisation on-
site in the manner as prescribed by the World
Health Organisation (WHO) or National AIDs
Control Organisation (NACO) guidelines and
then sent to the common bio-medical waste
treatment facility for final disposal;

¶760

(d) phase out use of chlorinated plastic bags,
gloves and blood bags within two years from
the date of notification of these rules;

¶761

pil33.18

¶762

¶763

(e) dispose of solid waste other than bio-
medical waste in accordance with the
provisions of respective waste management
rules made under the relevant laws and amended
from time to time;

¶764

(f) not to give treated bio-medical waste with
municipal solid waste;

¶765

(g) provide training to all its health care
workers and others, involved in handling of
bio medical waste at the time of induction and
thereafter at least once every year and the
details of training programmes conducted,
number of personnel trained and number of
personnel not undergone any training shall be
provided in the Annual Report;

¶766

(h) immunise all its health care workers and
others, involved in handling of bio-medical
waste for protection against diseases
including Hepatitis B and Tetanus that are
likely to be transmitted by handling of bio-
medical waste, in the manner as prescribed in
the National Immunisation Policy or the
guidelines of the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare issued from time to time;

¶767

(i) establish a Bar-Code System for bags or
containers containing bio-medical waste to be
sent out of the premises or place for any
purpose within one year from the date of the
notification of these rules;

¶768

pil33.18

¶769

¶770

(j) ensure segregation of liquid chemical
waste at source and ensure pre-treatment or
neutralisation prior to mixing with other
effluentgeneratedfromhealthcare
facilities;

¶771

(k) ensure treatment and disposal of liquid
waste in accordance with the Water (Prevention
and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of
1974); 5

¶772

(l) ensure occupational safety of all its
health care workers and others involved in
handling of biomedical waste by providing
appropriate and adequate personal protective
equipments;

¶773

(m) conduct health check up at the time of
induction and at least once in a year for all
its health care workers and others involved in
handling of bio-medical waste and maintain the
records for the same;

¶774

(n) maintain and update on day to day basis
the bio-medical waste management register and
display the monthly record on its website
according to the bio-medical waste generated
in terms of category and colour coding as
specified in Schedule I;

¶775

(o) report major accidents including accidents
caused by fire hazards, blasts during handling
of biomedical waste and the remedial action
taken and the records relevant thereto,

¶776

pil33.18

¶777

¶778

(including nil report) in Form I to the
prescribed authority and also along with the
annual report;

¶779

(p) make available the annual report on its
web-site and all the health care facilities
shall make own website within two years from
the date of notification of these rules;

¶780

(q)informtheprescribedauthority
immediately in case the operator of a facility
does not collect the bio-medical waste within
the intended time or as per the agreed time;

¶781

(r) establish a system to review and monitor
the activities related to bio-medical waste
management, either through an existing
committee or by forming a new committee and
the Committee shall meet once in every six
months and the record of the minutes of the
meetings of this committee shall be submitted
along with the annual report to the prescribed
authority and the healthcare establishments
having less than thirty beds shall designate a
qualified person to review and monitor the
activities relating to bio-medical waste
management within that establishment and
submit the annual report;

¶782

(s) maintain all record for operation of
incineration, hydro or autoclaving etc., for a
period of five years;

¶783

(t) existing incinerators to achieve the

¶784

pil33.18

¶785

¶786

standards for treatment and disposal of bio-
medical waste as specified in Schedule II for
retention time in secondary chamber and Dioxin
and Furans within two years from the date of
this notification.”

¶787

74. It is thus, evident that the occupier has
to take as many as 20 steps to ensure
scientific disposal of medical waste including
making a provision within the premises for a
safe, ventilated and secured location for
storage of segregated biomedical waste; to
dispose of solid waste other than bio-medical
waste in accordance with the provisions of
respective waste management rules; not to give
treated bio-medical waste with municipal solid
waste and to impart training to all health
workers etc.

¶788

75. Now, as far as the respondent no. 5 is
concerned, the land has been purchased by the
Nagar Palika and the garbage dumped in River
Dhela has been retrieved. The bye-laws have
been framed and sent to the State Government
for its notification by few local bodies.

¶789

76. The Municipal bodies/Nagar Panchayats are
required to dispose all the waste garbage in a
scientific method to avoid contamination of
all rivers and seepage of harmful chemicals in
the underground water. The non-scientific
disposal of garbage also causes air pollution

¶790

pil33.18

¶791

¶792

which degrades the quality of air and public
health. Every citizen has a fundamental right
to get clean and fresh air under Article 21 of
the Constitution of India. The statutory
authorities are remiss in discharge of their
duties. The municipal laws require scientific
disposal of garbage. The garbage is required
to be collected, stored, segregated and
transported and disposed of in a scientific
manner in landfills. It is the responsibility
of the respondent no. 6 also to ensure that
the provisions of Environmental Protection
Act, 1986 and the Rules, framed thereunder,
are followed in letter and spirit. It is the
duty of the Secretary, Executive Officers,
Municipality/Panchyati Raj Institutions to
ensure that the Solid Waste Management Rules,
2016 are implemented in letter and spirit."

¶793

.The observations in para 76 reproduced

¶794

herein above would make it abundantly clear that,
Respondents are obliged to scrupulously follow the
mandate of said rules and also the provisions of
the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and Rules
thereunder, so as to avoid breach of fundamental
rights to get clean and fresh air to the citizens
residing in the vicinity wherein such site is

¶795

pil33.18

¶796

¶797

situate.

¶798

26.It would be also useful for guidance of
Respondent No.7 and the State Authorities to keep
in view the views expressed in "Briefing Note on
Aurangabad Waste Management and at Naregaon-
Mandaki Dumsite" prepared by Member, Supreme Court
Committee for Solid Waste Management National
Expert, Swachh Bharat Mission, Government of
India, Member, Solid Waste Management Expert
Committee, Bengaluru, copy of which is placed on
record.

¶799

27.We also find considerable force in the
argument of learned counsel appearing for the
Petitioners that, there should be equitable
sharing of waste generated from Aurangabad city
and such sharing should be by the citizens from
whom every day garbage is collected. We also find
considerable force in the argument of learned
counsel appearing for the Petitioners that, due to
continuous use for more than 33 years of the site

¶800

pil33.18

¶801

¶802

at Gut Nos.78 and 79 at village Mandki for dumping

¶803

the solid waste/garbage, the water has become
contaminated as shown in the report of the study
undertaken by one Mohammed Asef Iqbal, Ph.D.
Student of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada

¶804

University, Aurangabad. Due to creation of methyl
gas there has been instances of periodical fire.
There is no buffer zone of 5 kilo meters and
therefore further use of said site at Mandki

¶805

village for the purpose of solid waste/ garbage is

¶806

completely ruled out. It further appears that in
the year 1997 notice was published that no further

¶807

dumping of the solid waste/ garbage should be at
the said site keeping in view the provisions of
the Aircraft Act, 1934 and the Rules there under.

¶808

The Corporation has not brought anything on record
that it has taken no objection certificate or

¶809

permissions time to time from the concerned
Departments of the State Government or Central

¶810

Government for continuous use of said site i.e.
Gut Nos.78 and 79 of village Mandki, as per the
provisions of Rules of 2000, the Rules of 2016 and

¶811

pil33.18

¶812

¶813

relevant Government Resolutions, Circulars and
guidelines issued in this respect.

¶814

28.Learned counsel for the Petitioners is
also right in her submissions that Respondent
No.7, State Government and its Officials have not
bothered to see the social impact of such dumping
at said site and consequences of it in increasing
mortality rates, respiratory arrest and lung
cancer etc. There are different rules for disposal
of plastic / medical and electronic waste and
Respondent No. 7 did not follow the same for years
together.

¶815

29.It is true that now the Chief Secretary
of Government of Maharashtra has filed the
affidavit wherein it is stated that, the
Government of Maharashtra has prepared the State
policy for solid waste management considering the
provisions of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules,
2016. It is further stated that, under Swachh
Bharat Mission every Urban Local Bodies (ULB) are

¶816

pil33.18

¶817

¶818

required to prepare and implement Solid Waste
Management Detailed Project Report (DPR). The DPRs
to be prepared under Swachh Bharat Mission shall
be on line with Solid Waste Management Rules 2016
and the Swachh Bharat Mission guidelines. It is
further stated that, the State Government has
taken the following steps for effective
implementation of Solid Waste Management under
Swachh Bharat Mission :

¶819

(i) In view of the failure of solid waste management projects on ground, the State has developed integrated approach for solid waste management. This approach is included in all DPRs prepared under Swachh Bharat Mission [SBM].

¶820

(ii) The main focus of DPRs being prepared under SBM is on segregation of waste at source by generators, composting from wet waste, recycling and recovery of dry waste through Material Recovery Facilities, development of landfill sites and bio-mining of legacy dumps. To ensure quality of the DPRs following actions have been taken by the State:

¶821

pil33.18

¶822

¶823

a. One agency for each division [total six agencies] is appointed for SWM DPR preparation under Swachh Bharat Mission.

¶824

b. All these agencies are empanelled by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs [MoHUA] for DPR preparation under SBM.

¶825

c. To ensure quality, National Environment Engineering Research Institute [NEERI] is appointed for appraisal of DPRs and after appraisal of DPRs by NEERI, DPRs are forwarded to Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran [MJP] for technical sanction.

¶826

d. DPR preparation process is underway and already 152 DPRs are prepared and approved by the High Power Committee and MoHUA.

¶827

e. All SWM DPRs are being prepared as per the SBM guidelines and SWM Rules, 2016.

¶828

f. Under SBM for each DPR Central Govt. provides 35% of grant and STate Govt. provides 23.3% of grant to ULBs.

¶829

g. Till today 152 DPRs have been prepared and approved and DPRs of all remaining towns shall be approved by April, 2018.

¶830

h. State has also established an implementation

¶831

pil33.18

¶832

¶833

framework to ensure implementation of
approved SWM DPRs within mission period i.e.
upto October 2019.

¶834

directed the State to intervene in this matter and
resolve the issue of Solid Waste Management within
the city of Aurangabad. Accordingly, in compliance
of the directions so issued, the State has
intervened and following steps have been taken:

¶835

(I)State Urban Development Department issued
directionstoAurangabadMunicipal
Corporation to engage an NGO for segregation
at source and behaviour changes.

¶836

(II)Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship
of Divisional Commissioner has been
constituted vide Government Resolution dated
01.03.2018 at Divisional Level.

¶837

(III)Decision has been taken to constitute State
Level Monitoring Committee under the
Chairmanship of Secretary.

¶838

It is further stated in the said

¶839

¶840

pil33.18

¶841

¶842

affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary that,
Aurangabad Municipal Corporation has submitted
their Solid Waste Management DPR on 17th February,
2018 to State for approval of High Power Committee
under Swachh Bharat Mission. The main focus of
Aurangabad SWM DPR is segregation of waste at
sourcebygenerators,decentralizedand
centralized composting from wet waste, bio-gas
plant for organic waste, recycling and recovery of
dry waste through Material Recovery Facilities.
Accordingly, the DPR was submitted by Aurangabad
Municipal Corporation on 17.02.2018. However, as

¶843

the said DPR required some revision as per the
provisions of State Policy on Solid Waste
Management the same has been referred to M/s. Eco-
Pro, an Agency authorized by Government of
Maharashtra.

¶844

.In para 9 of the affidavit filed by the

¶845

Chief Secretary, it is stated thus:

¶846

“9.I further say and submit that considering

¶847

pil33.18

¶848

¶849

the situation in Aurangabad Corporation area,
the State has decided that immediate short
terms measures such as segregation and
composting of wet waste shall be implemented
immediately in following manner.

¶850

`Activity`	`Timeline`
`Revision of DPR`	`By 8th March 2018`
`Technical Sanction` `of DPR by MJP`	`By 15th March 2018`
`Approval of DPR by` `HPC`	`By 17th March 2018`
`Release of State` `share`	`By 21st March 2018`
`Release of central` `share`	`By 30th April 2018`

¶851

Whereas, the measures such as biogas plant,
decentralized/ centralized processing facility,
scientific land fill shall be implemented as
per time schedule provided below.

¶852

`Activity`	`Timeli`	`ne`
`DPR`	• `Segregation, col`	`lection`
`implementation` `by Aurangabad`	`& Transportation:`	`3 months`
`Municipal`	• `Decentralized`	`/centralized`
`Corporation`	`composting:`	`3 months`
	• `Bio-gas plant:`	`6 months`
	• `Scientific`
	`landfill` `:`	`8 months`

¶853

pil33.18

¶854

¶855

• Scientific closure of legacy dump at Naregaon: 12 months

¶856

30.We appreciate the said gesture and
impress upon the State and State Officials and
also Respondent No.7 to take future and further

¶857

steps only after taking into confidence the
respective Grampanchayats, Corporator of said area
and public representative at the time of taking
steps for scientific closure of legacy dump at
Naregaon.

¶858

31.In the light of discussion herein above

¶859

and considering the peculiar facts of this case in
its entirety and general problems faced by the
public at Mandki, Gopalpur, Pakhri and
Mahalpimpri, we have arrived at a conclusion that
Respondent No.7 did not show seriousness and the

¶860

State Officials were not serious in discharging
their obligation to press into service the
scientific method of disposal of solid waste /
garbage dumped at the said site of village Mandki

¶861

pil33.18

¶862

¶863

and as a result and as informed by the counsel for
the Petitioners that more than 20,00,000 cubic ton
solid waste / garbage is lying on the said site as
it is. There is no serious attempt of Respondent
No.7 to set up solid waste disposal plant at the
site. The State Government and Urban Development
Department which has administrative control over
the local bodies i.e. Municipal Councils and the
Municipal Corporation has not taken effective
steps to address serious issue and taken remedial
steps to compel respondent No. 7 to strictly
follow the procedure for processing solid waste
dumped at said site in accordance with the Rules
prescribed in that behalf. The method adopted by
Respondent No.7 for dumping of solid waste /
garbage in unscientific manner at the said site
has created numerous problems of health as well as
damaged to environment in the vicinity of the said
site creating air as well as water pollution. At

¶864

no point of time, at least from the year 2004
onwards Respondent No.7 has adopted scientific
method keeping in view the Rules of 2000 or the

¶865

pil33.18

¶866

¶867

Rules of 2016 for disposal of the solid waste /
garbage at the said site.

¶868

32.From the pleadings in the Petition and

¶869

the documents placed before us and the replies

¶870

filed by the respective Respondents and
considering the issue in its entirety, we find
that Corporation and its Authority have failed to

¶871

deal with the issue raised in the Petition,
seriously.TheStateAuthorities,Urban

¶872

Development Department could not effectively issue
directions, resort to appropriate methods in
directing Respondent No.7 Corporation authorities
seeking compliance of the mandatory provisions of
law. It is true that the Chief Secretary of the
Government of Maharashtra has filed the affidavit

¶873

now, mentioning therein time-line so as to take

¶874

effective steps for scientific disposal of the
solid waste/ garbage within one year from today in

¶875

respect of said site and also the problems faced

¶876

by the citizens due to dumping of garbage at

¶877

nearer places in the city. However, the said

¶878

pil33.18

¶879

¶880

steps can be said to be taken by the State
Government for the future.

¶881

33.The Division Bench of the Bombay High
Court at Principal Seat [CORAM: A.S.OKA & C.V.
BHADANG, JJ.] in the order dated 26th and 29th
February, 2016 in Civil Application No.221 of 2013

¶882

in Public Interest Litigation No.217 of 2009
[Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai Vs. Shri
Pandurang Patil & Anr.], had expressed serious
concerned about dumping made at the sites at
Deonar and Mulund which were required to be closed

¶883

down long back since those were not in conformity
with the requirements of the MSW Rules. In the
said judgment the opinion is expressed by the

¶884

Division Bench that the MSW Rules came into force
on 3rd October, 2000, neither the State Government

¶885

nor the Corporation have bothered to comply with

¶886

the MSW Rules. Schedule-I of the MSW Rules
contains implementation schedule. Read with
Rule 4 of the MSW Rules, the Schedule-I provides
that it is the obligation of the Municipal

¶887

pil33.18

¶888

¶889

Authority to set up waste disposal and processing
facilities in terms of the said Rules by 31st
December, 2003. In the present case also, there
is non-adherence to aforesaid Rules of 2000 and

¶890

also non implementation of the said Rules in
accordance with the Schedule-I read with Rule 4 of
the MSW Rules.

¶891

34.In the case of A.P. Pollution Control

¶892

Board II Vs. Prof. M.V.Nayudu (RETD.) and others,

¶893

cited supra, while dealing with the provisions of
Environment [Protection] Act, 1986, Article 21 of

¶894

the Constitution of India and also Water
[Prevention and Control of Pollution] Act, 1974,
the Supreme Court in para 3 to 11 held as under:

¶895

"3.Drinking water is of primary
importance in any country. In fact,
India is a party to the resolution of
the UNO passed during the United Nations
Water Conference in 1977 as under:

¶896

“All people, whatever their
stage of development and their
social and economic conditions,

¶897

pil33.18

¶898

¶899

have the right to have access to drinking water in quantum and of a quality equal to their basic needs.”

¶900

Thus, the right to access to drinking
water is fundamental to life and there
is a duty on the State under Article 21
to provide clean drinking water to its
citizens.

¶901

4. Adverting to the above right declared in the aforesaid Resolution, in Narmada Bachao Andolan v. Union of India² (Scale at p. 124 : SCC p. 767, para 248), Kirpal, J. observed:

¶902

“ 248 . Water is the basic need for the survival of human beings and is part of the right to life and human rights as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India….”

¶903

5. There is, therefore, a need to take into account the right to a healthy environment along with the right to sustainable development and balance them. Competing human rights to healthy environment and sustainable development.

¶904

pil33.18

¶905

¶906

6. There is building up, in various
countries, a concept that right to
healthy environment and to sustainable
development are fundamental human rights
implicit in the right to “life”.

¶907

7. Our Supreme Court was one of the first Courts to develop the concept of right to “healthy environment” as part of the right to “life” under Article 21 of our Constitution. (See Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India³ . ) This principle has now been adopted in various countries today.

¶908

8. In today’s emerging jurisprudence, environmental rights which encompass a group of collective rights are described as “third-generation” rights. The “first-generation” rights are generally political rights such as those found in the International Convention on Civil & Political Rights while “secondgeneration” rights are social and economic rights as found in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. “Right to Healthy Environment”, (See Vol. 25) 2000 Columbia Journal of Environment Law by

¶909

pil33.18

¶910

¶911

John Lee p. 283, at pp. 293-294, fn. 29)

¶912

9. The right to sustainable development has been declared by the UN General Assembly to be an inalienable human right (Declaration on the Right to Development) (1986). The 1992 Rio Conference declared that human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. Human beings are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. (Principle 1). In order to achieve “sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of development process and cannot be considered in isolation of it”. The 1997 Earth Summit meeting of 100 nations in New York reflected the above principles. The European Court of Justice, emphasised in Portugal v. F.C. Council the need to promote sustainable development while taking into account the environment. (3 C.M.L.R. 331) (1997) (ibid Columbia Journal of Environmental Law , p. 283)

¶913

10. In Lopez Ostra v. Spain⁴ the European Court at Strasbourg has held that the result of environmental

¶914

pil33.18

¶915

¶916

degradation might affect an individual’s well being so as to deprive him of enjoyment of private and family life. Under Article 8 of the European Convention, everyone is guaranteed the right to respect for his private and family life. (See also, Powell & Rayner v. U.K.⁵ . ) The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has found a similar linkage ( Yanomani Indians v. Brazil⁶ ) . The Commission found that Brazil had violated the Yanomani Indians’ right to life by not taking measures to prevent the environmental damage. The Philippine Supreme Court dealt with the action against Government not to continue licensing agreements permitting deforestation so that the right to a “balanced and healthful ecology in accordance with the rhythm and harmony of nature” is not affected⁷ . The judgment was based on “intergenerational responsibility”. In Fundepublico v. Mayor of Bugalagrande the Constitutional Court of Columbia (17-6-1992) held in favour of the right to healthy environment as a fundamental human right and treated the right as part of customary international law. The Court permitted popular-action mechanism. The

¶917

pil33.18

¶918

¶919

Supreme Court of South Africa, in a recent case in Wildlife Society of Southern Africa v. Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism of the Republic of South Africa⁸ (dated 27-61996) dealt with the right to healthy environment. About 60 nations since 1990 have recognised in their Constitutions a right to a healthy environment as a corollary duty to defend the environment ( Columbia Journal of Environmental Law , ibid pp. 318-19).

¶920

11. Thus, the concept of a healthy
environment as a part of the fundamental
right to life, developed by our Supreme
Court, is finding acceptance in various
countries side by side with the right to
development."

¶921

35.In the light of discussion herein above
there is no slightest room for doubt that
Respondent No.7 in utter disregard to the
provisions of the MSW Rules of 2000 and the SWM
Rules of 2016, Water [Prevention and Control of

¶922

Pollution] Act, 1974 and the Environment
[Protection] Act, 1986, Air [Prevention and

¶923

pil33.18

¶924

¶925

Control of Pollution] Act, 1981, continued to dump
solid waste/ garbage at the site of Gut Nos.78 and
79 of village Mandki. If we further allow
Respondent No.7 to continue its activity of
dumping of new solid, dry or wet waste/garbage on
the site of Gut Nos.78 and 79 of village Mandki,
it would be nothing less than inviting risk of
deaths of human beings, animals, birds etc. apart
from ill-effects/ serious diseases which have
already been spread over in the said vicinity,
which may also amount to travesty of justice.
Therefore, we pass the following order:

¶926

Respondent No.7 from dumping new solid,
dry or wet waste/ garbage in Gut Nos.78
and 79 of village Mandki.

¶927

pil33.18

¶928

¶929

solid, dry or wet waste is permitted to

¶930

be dumped for disposal on the land
situate at Gut Nos.78 and 79 of village
Mandki.

¶931

(III)We direct Respondent No.7 to
ensureimplementationofthe
directions / guidelines issued by the
Hon'ble Supreme Court and the High Court
as well as Solid Waste Management Rules,
2016 with regard to segregation of waste
by evolving a strict policy and imposing
penalty against wrong doers.

¶932

(IV)We direct Respondents to ensure
scientific closure of legacy dump at
Naregaon as per time-line/limit stated
in the affidavit of the Chief Secretary
to the Government of Maharashtra, in

¶933

consultationwithrespective
Grampanchayats, however, keeping in view
the provisions of the Solid Waste

¶934

pil33.18

¶935

¶936

Management Rules, 2016.

¶937

(V)The State Government would be

¶938

at liberty to set up a team of Experts

¶939

from a reputed Technology Institution
for rendering scientific assistance with
regard to the disposal of the waste dump
and restoration of the land situate at
Gut Nos. 78 and 79 of village Mandki to
habitable characteristics.

¶940

(VI)We grant liberty to the

¶941

Petitioners to approach the appropriate

¶942

Forum with better and material
particulars and details to initiate
civil or criminal action against

¶943

concerned erring Officers/ Public

¶944

Servants, in accordance with the
provisions of law. For the said

¶945

purpose, the Petitioners should be
allowed by Respondent No.7 to take

¶946

inspection of relevant records available

¶947

pil33.18

¶948

¶949

with Respondent No.7 as regards to the
arrangements made, expenses incurred,
sanitary and hygienic problems posed by
improper disposal of solid waste by
Respondent No.7.

¶950

(VII)We direct the Respondents to
takenecessarymeasures,after
consultationwithbio-techand

¶951

scientific agencies including Respondent
No.6 to reverse the environmental impact
caused to the land situate at Gut Nos.

¶952

78 and 79 of village Mandki and its
adjoining area due to the dumping of
solid waste / garbage for more than 33
years in unscientific manner and
contrary to the provisions of the
Municipal Solid Waste (Management and
Handling) Rules, 2000 and Solid Waste
Management Rules, 2016.

¶953

(VIII)We direct the Chief Secretary

¶954

pil33.18

¶955

¶956

to the Government of Maharashtra to
cause the enquiry by calling necessary
records / files from the concerned
Department and also Respondent No.7 for
not abiding the directions contained in
the order dated 7th July, 2003, passed
by the Division Bench of this Court
(CORAM: B.H. MARLAPALLE & P.V. KAKADE,
JJ.) in Writ Petition No.3253 of 2002
(Dr.Shaikh Mohammed Shafeeque Ahmed and
another Vs. The Municipal Corporation of
City of Aurangabad and others) to

¶957

finalize the issue which was raised in
the said Writ Petition for finalizing
another site for the purpose of disposal
of solid waste / garbage keeping in view
the provisions of the Municipal Solid
Waste (Management and Handling) Rules,
2000, then in force, within three months
from today and submit the report to this
Court to that effect.

¶958

pil33.18

¶959

¶960

(IX)We direct Respondent No.6 to

¶961

take to the logical end the show cause
notices dated 20th November, 2017 and
27th February, 2018 issued to Respondent
No.7 and depending upon the reply filed
by Respondent No.7 and after following
the principles of natural justice, take
the appropriate decision, pass the
necessary orders or initiate the
criminal prosecution as permissible
under the provisions of the Air
(Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act,1981andtheEnvironment
(Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, 1986 read with Solid Waste
Management Rules, 2016.

¶962

(X)We grant liberty to the
Petitionerstofileappropriate
proceedings as permissible in law for
redressal of their grievances for
compensation due to the ill-effects to

¶963

pil33.18

¶964

¶965

their health, if any, due to dumping of
solid waste / garbage continuously for
more than 33 years without following the
mandates of the Municipal Solid Waste
(Management and Handling) Rules, 2000,
Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016,
Water [Prevention and Control of
Pollution] Act, 1974, the Environment
[Protection] Act, 1986 and Air
[Prevention and Control of Pollution]
Act, 1981. Needless to observe that in
case such proceedings are initiated, the
concerned Forum to deal with the same in
accordance with the law and relevant
procedure.

¶966

(XI)We direct Respondent No.7 to
consider request of the residents of
villagers residing in the vicinity of
villages, namely, Mandki, Gopalpur,
Pakhri and Mahalpimpri, to provide clean
drinking water from the Aurangabad

¶967

pil33.18

¶968

¶969

Municipal Corporation pipe-line passing
through the said villages, within three
months from today keeping in view the
relevant provisions / procedure.

¶970

(XII)Rule is made absolute on above

¶971

terms. Public Interest Litigation

¶972

stands disposed of accordingly.

¶973

(XIII)All concerned to act upon
authenticated copy of this order.

¶974

(XIV)Listforcomplianceof
aforesaid directions contained in clause
(VIII) of this order, on 18th June,
2018, under caption "For Compliance".

¶975

[S.M. GAVHANE, J.] [S.S. SHINDE, J.]

¶976

asb/MAR18

¶977

. After pronouncement, learned counsel

¶978

appearing for Respondent No.7 prays for stay to
the effect and operation of the Judgment and

¶979

pil33.18

¶980

¶981

Order. The prayer is vehemently opposed by learned
counsel appearing for the Petitioners. In the
light of reasons assigned in the Judgment, we are
unable to persuade ourselves to accede to the
prayer of the counsel appearing for Respondent

¶982

No.7. Hence the prayer stands rejected.

¶983

[S.M. GAVHANE, J.] [S.S. SHINDE, J.]
asb/MAR18

Vijay Laxmanrao Dak and Others v. the Union of India and Others

Case brief

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Vijay Laxmanrao Dak and Others v. the Union of India and Others

Case brief

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