NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said segregation of waste at source was of “vital importance” for the environment and asked the NCR states for the compliances made in adherence to the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said the non-compliance in adhering to the 2016 Rules had affected all cities in the country.
“In one of the orders, we have observed that all smart city projects are in progress. How the cities can become smart without compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules?” the bench asked.
The National Capital Region (NCR) comprises Delhi and certain districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
If there was no proper segregation of waste, the court said, even waste-to-energy projects would create more pollution.
Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, the amicus curiae in the pollution matter, referred to solid waste management in the NCR while flagging the low percentage of segregation of waste.
She said sending unsegregated waste to waste-to-energy plants caused more pollution.
“As rightly submitted by the amicus curiae, the segregation of waste at source is of vital importance for the environment. If their is no proper segregation, even waste-to-energy projects will create more pollution,” the bench said.
The NCR states were ordered to file affidavits dealing with the compliances of all the urban local bodies with the provisions of the 2016 Rules so far. They have been asked to file the affidavits by end of March following which the matter would be taken up.
The bench has also asked the states to set out a comprehensive plan for waste management along with timelines and implementing agencies and said, “Needless to add that the affidavits will state compliance in relation to all urban local bodies within the NCR.”
The authorities were asked to set out the “best practices” they proposed to follow for solid waste management.
The bench in the meantime directed the Central Pollution Control Board to submit a report on the impact of waste-to-energy projects on the environment.
While dealing with the issue of solid waste management in the national capital previously, the court said if there was no real solution to tackle the issue of untreated solid waste generated per day, it would consider passing drastic orders to stop certain construction activities.
It had flagged the failure of the Delhi government and the municipal corporation to comply with the 2016 Rules.
“We are facing a huge problem which arises due to the fact that approximately 3,000 tonne of solid waste generated every day in Delhi remains untreated. With the passage of time, this figure is bound to increase,” it said on January 27.
The aspect of solid waste management in Delhi-NCR came about when the apex court was hearing the issue of pollution in the NCR