High court orders photography of Dadumajra garbage dump

The Chandigarh administration claimed significant progress in waste management and assured the court that no fresh unprocessed waste was being dumped at the site

A Punjab and Haryana high court bench on Wednesday directed its registry to take photographs of the Dadumajra garbage dump site.

The directions were issued during resumed hearing of two pleas by city residents against waste mismanagement at the site. (HT file photo for representation)

The directions were issued during resumed hearing of two pleas by city residents against waste mismanagement at the site.

UT administration claimed significant progress in waste management and assured the court that no fresh unprocessed waste was being dumped at the site. The municipal corporation’s (MC’s) counsel said a small new dump of about 2.25 lakh metric tonnes (MT) had emerged, which would be cleared by May 2025.

However, advocate Amit Sharma, appearing in person, countered this claim, stating his drone footage revealed leachate flowing across all three dumps - including the legacy dump that was supposedly reclaimed in 2022. The emergence of a third garbage mountain, contradicts MC’s assurance since 2018 that no fresh waste was being added, Sharma submitted.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court directed the registry to independently verify the situation on the ground by taking photographs of the dumps. The next hearing in the case is on January 21.