The Bombay High Court directed the municipal corporations and district councils of Maharashtra to make it mandatory to segregate dry and wet garbage at the source itself for better solid waste management.
The direction was passed by a division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade while hearing a public interest litigation by two Pune residents Harshwardhan Modak and Vinod Patil raising concerns about the failure on part of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to effectively dispose of waste.
“Waste should be segregated into dry and wet at the source itself…that is at residential complexes, homes and restuarants and hotels. This is the only way to tackle the issue,” Justice Kanade said.
“In Mumbai, there have been frequent cases of fire at the Deonar dumping ground. Apart from installation of solid waste disposal plants it is necessary to ensure that waste is separated and segregated at the source itself so that separating at the dumping ground becomes easier,” the court said.
The bench said corporators should take up this issue seriously and observed, “They (corporators) are concerned about the welfare of the people.”
The court directed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and PMC to file an affidavit stating what steps it has taken towards segregation of waste into dry and wet at the source.
The petition has been posted for further hearing on September 7.
