The Hindu 28.05.2013
New government gets a month to submit status report on garbage
Giving the newly elected government some breathing room,
the Karnataka High Court has allowed it till June 28 to submit a status
report on compliance of all court orders on solving Bangalore’s garbage
problem.
A Division Bench comprising Justice N.
Kumar and Justice B.V. Nagarathna granted a month’s time as it was
brought to its notice that the government had just taken over and
required time to submit its responses.
The court
asked the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to publish on its
website reports of the technical and expert committees inviting
objections and suggestions from the public.
The Bench
asked BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah, who is retiring at the end of the
month, to submit a report to the court on the issues that were not
covered so far in the court orders, on finding long-lasting solutions to
the garbage menace.
The Bench appreciated the manner in which he assisted the court in the last six months.
Strong action
During
the hearing, the Bench asked the authorities about the progress made in
bringing in amended rules to raise the fines on those littering in
public places and failing to adhere to waste segregation norms.
“I
have seen with my own eyes that people, all educated, coming in cars or
scooters and throwing plastic covers containing garbage on the street
corners. They are all white-collared people. So, the earliest the law is
put into force, the better. Imposing a mere Rs. 100 or Rs. 200 as fine
won’t help. You may have to treat it as an offence and cut off civic
amenities,” Mr. Kumar observed orally.
