There is more garbage in Delhi than land, says Delhi high court

The bench also asked them to inform the court about the sewage treatment plants in the city.

The Delhi High Court on Friday remarked that there is more garbage than land for people in the national capital citing photographs in newspapers, showing the accumulation of solid waste in various parts of the city.

The bench also asked them to inform the court about the sewage treatment plants in the city.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said a will to work was needed to clean up the city and not funds as claimed by the three municipal corporations who have blamed the Delhi government for not implementing the 4th Finance Commission recommendations.

The bench told the three corporations, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, that if its orders regarding implementation of the 4th Finance Commission recommendations have not been followed by the Delhi government, then a contempt plea can be filed.

It directed the civic bodies to inform the court in tabulated format, five-yearly progression with regard to the demographic variations; variance/increase in staff strength as well as infrastructure development in the nature of availability and increase in procurements say of number of dhalaos, trucks, cleaning equipments, etc.

The bench also asked them to inform the court about the sewage treatment plants in the city.

The court also took up the issue of the deaths of a ragpicker, who was electrocuted at a garbage heap where a live wire had fallen, and that of a child who fell into a pit allegedly dug up by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) four months ago.

Concerned over the two incidents, the bench sought a status report from the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) with regard to the death of the ragpicker and a similar direction was issued to the DDA in connection with the nine-year-old boy’s death.

While seeking the status reports from the two agencies by June 27, the court said, “It was high time that we changed the way we work or should we wait for more people or children to die.”

It also told the authorities, “You cannot say the crisis was because of the rains. This is happening because you are not doing your job.”