PIL filed regarding accumulation of dry waste and smoke emissions from a municipality dumping yard. Court noted municipality's affidavit of compliance and pollution board's prior actions, granting only a general direction to ensure future compliance without specific remedies.
Direction to respondent No.1 to ensure compliance of SWM Rules, 2016.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 23RD DAY OF AUGUST, 2021
PRESENT
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA
AND
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM WRIT PETITION NO.27/2021 (GM-RES)
BETWEEN
MR. D S RAJASHEKAR AGED ABOUT 56 YEARS, S/O SRINIVASIYYAR, RESIDING AT KUSUMA CASHEW INDUSTRIES, KARIYAKAL, KARKALA TALUK, UDUPI DISTRICT.
...PETITIONER
(BY SRI.AKASH B.SHETTY, ADVOCATE)
AND:
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...RESPONDENTS
(BY SRI.PRASANNA V.R., ADV. FOR R1 SRI.D.NAGARAJ, ADV. FOR R2 SRI.VIJAYAKUMAR A PATIL., AGA)
THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE KARNATAKA HIGH COURT ACT, 1961 PRAYING TO DIRECT THE RESPONDENT TO IMMEDIATELY TAKE ACTION TO STOP THE SMOKE EMITTING FROM THE DUMPING YARD AND ETC.
THIS WRIT PETITION COMING ON FOR ORDERS THIS DAY, SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA, J., MADE THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER
The petitioner before this Court has filed the present petition as PIL stating that he is a resident of Karkala Taluk which comes under the Karkala Town Municipality. He has stated that the solid waste i.e., plastic, metal, cloth collected from homes and establishments of Karkala Town, is being dumped by the Karkala Town Municipality at a particular place violating the statutory provisions of law as contained under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 (for short 'SWM Rules, 2016). He has stated that respondent No.1-Karkala Town
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Municipality has also committed an offence in not disposing of the solid waste keeping in view the statutory provisions governing the field.
petitioner in the PIL:
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filed by the Pollution Control Board which includes Inspection Report and it has been stated that various directions have been issued to the Town Municipal Council authorities to improve upon their Dry Waste management practices. The Inspection Report of the Environmental Officer, Karnataka
State Pollution Control Board (for short 'KSPCB') is
reproduced as under:
"No.PCB/RO(Udupi)/IR/2021/1472 Date: 10/3/2021 Inspection report of Smt.Vijaya Hegde, Environmental Officer, KSPCB, Udupi Staff accompanied by Vivek, AEO
| 1 | Name of the local body | Town Municipal Council, Karkala |
|---|---|---|
| Date of inspection | 09.03.2021 | |
| 2 | Representative of local body |
Smt.Reka Shetty, Chief Officer, TMC, Karkala Smt.Laila, Health Inspector, TMC, Karkala |
| 3 | Purpose of inspection | To verify the present status of Municipal Solid Waste processing site at Karkala |
In continuation with the previous inspection made on 29.02.2021, the municipal solid waste processing facility of Karkala was visited again on 09.03.2021 along with the Chief Officer and her staff and the following observations are made:
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From the observations, it's clear that the TMC has neglected the solid waste management for the past more than a month and this has resulted in accumulation of all types of dry waste on the capped dump. TMC has to find its means for proper management of dry and wet waste.
As per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the Urban Local Bodies are required to achieve source segregation of dry and wet wastes, wet waste has to be composted or bio-methanised to get compost and the dry wastes are to be segregated again as recyclables and non recyclables. Recyclables are to be sold to authorised vendors, non-recyclables are to be again segregated as the one with calorific value and baled and sent to cement kiln or waste to energy plants for further incineration. Only those wastes which cannot be recycled, and has no calorific value have to be dumped in the sanitary landfill.
Conclusions: However, the authorities are not managing their dry wastes as required under the Solid Waste
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Management Rules, 2016 and this has resulted in the fire incident in November 2020, and as the TMC is operating the solid waste processing facilities without authorisation from this Board for the past more than 04 years, further course of action to file Criminal case as per section 19 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 has to be initiated.
State Pollution Control Board has also stated that a criminal case has been registered against the TMC authorities for the offence punishable under Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and they are taking all possible steps to ensure that the provisions of SMW Rules, 2016 are complied with.
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been stated that it has taken all possible steps to ensure compliance of statutory provisions of SMW Rules, 2016 and also keeping in view that the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has also taken action in the matter, the present petition is disposed of with a direction to ensure the compliance of the SWM Rule, 2016.
SD/JUDGE
SD/JUDGE
TL
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioner is entitled to a direction to stop smoke emitting from the dumping yard and ensure compliance with solid waste management rules.
Whether the writ petition regarding non-compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules should be disposed of given the steps taken by the municipality and actions by the pollution board.
3 provisions across 3 enactments
MR. D S RAJASHEKAR
THE KARKALA TOWN MUNICIPALITY
THE KARNATAKA STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA
SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
