Supreme Court cracks whip on waste management in NCR

Dealing with a petition on pollution in Delhi-NCR filed by advocate-activist MC Mehta, a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that non-compliance with the rules was affecting the entire country

New Delhi

The Supreme Court posted the matter for April. (HT Archive)

The Supreme Court on Monday directed Delhi’s satellite cities of Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Greater Noida to spell out clear timelines for implementing segregation of solid waste, observing that “Smart Cities” could not afford to be non-compliant with the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016.

Dealing with a petition on pollution in Delhi-NCR filed by advocate-activist MC Mehta, a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that non-compliance with the rules was affecting the entire country.

The court was informed that segregation of dry and wet waste, biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste at source was low in Haryana, at 15% in Gurugram, and 20% in Faridabad. The Uttar Pradesh government is yet to respond on the implementation of waste segregation in Greater Noida, a major hub of construction activity.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said, “We find Greater Noida has not given any figures. We have already indicated while dealing with implementation of 2016 SWM Rules in Delhi that if there is no compliance, we shall be forced to take drastic steps to place an embargo on further construction work.”

The court’s consideration of the implementation of SWM Rules in NCR cities comes as a precursor to the March 21 hearing on the same issue in Delhi. In the Capital, there is 55% waste segregation in areas administered by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Posting the matter for April, the bench granted time for UP and Haryana to file a comprehensive affidavit dealing with compliance with 2016 Rules by the end of March. This will include timelines for urban local bodies (ULB) in the NCR towns to achieve 100% segregation of waste at source and the agencies responsible for implementing it, the order said.

Haryana’s additional advocate general (AAG) Lokesh Sinhal informed the court that by December 2025, Gurugram and Faridabad plan to achieve complete waste segregation at source, pointing out that many residential societies have registered with ULBs for segregating waste in their colonies.