Aastha Thakur
Published on: 01 September 2022 at 18:17 IST
The Uttarakhand High Court has ruled that one of its judges should make an on-site visit to understand what the hurdles are in actually implementing its orders on the collection and disposal of plastic waste.
The bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe made this proposal while hearing a plea of public interest (PIL) filed by activist Dushyant Mainali over the failure of the state and its agencies to enforce in Uttarakhand state Comply with solid waste disposal laws.
Hearing the matter on July 7, the court considered the materials on file to determine that the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules of 2018 are in complete non-compliance, as there is little registration of any manufacturer, importer or brand owner with the State Pollution Control Board in Uttarakhand State.
As a result, the court had issued a series of orders to state agencies and required affidavits of compliance from those agencies [the details of the order can be read here (order dated July 7) and here (order dated August 3)].
Now, on August 29th, the petitioner (Dushyant Mainali) submitted to the court that there was not much actual work on site for refuse collection, i.e., non-biodegradable plastic waste, had experienced the same thing, as the bank noted that as they move around the state, they see a lot of plastic littering the streets and walkways.
Therefore, in order to better understand what is the hurdle in actually implementing our orders for plastic waste collection and disposal, the Court suggested that at least one of us, along with the District Judge concerned, Member Secretary of SLSA, Executive Officer of Zila Panchayat, Nainital and Regional Officer, Uttarakhand Pollution Control to make an on-site visit Board, Haldwani, Village Development Officer, Village Dhanachuli on 9 September 2022 at 14:00
The on-site visit is to take place at Dhanachuli Village, Nainital District, and the Registrar General of the Court was also ordered to remain present and the parties’ counsel was also permitted to remain present.
This ordered the matter to be heard by the court on September 12, 2022.
