MCC failed to enforce waste management rules, what action will you take: K'taka HC to state govt

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka asked the State government what action it would take against the Mangaluru City corporation for not enforcing environmental law.

The court after observing that prima facie Mangaluru City Corporation has failed to implement Sold Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2016, asked the state government not to become a silent spectator to the failure of Mangaluru City Corporation to handle solid waste disposal.

After going through reports submitted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on the status of waste sold waste management and Pachhanadi landfill in Mangaluru, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj issued a direction.

Observing that the government must dissolve the elected body of the corporation for failing to enforce waste management rules framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, the Bench wondered why the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district, who held a meeting on June 16, did not invite senior officers of the CPCB and the KSPCB to it.

The Bench was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by Karnataka State Legal Services Authority on the failure to handle waste in a proper way by Mangaluru city municipal council, came up for hearing before a division bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice A S Oka, on Monday, June 21.

Earlier, appearing for KSLSA, advocate Sridhar Prabhu told the Bench that the reports of the pollution control boards have clearly pointed out that waste is neither collected nor disposed of in the manner prescribed under the Rules.