Panel on Delhi waste management to meet daily for first two weeks: SC

The Supreme Court today said that an expert committee, set up by the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to deal with the issues relating to solid waste management in Delhi would have to meet every working day for the first two week after which the court would review the situation.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur did not agree with the proposal put forth by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand, appearing for the office of the LG, that the committee should meet twice a week.

The apex court said the names of its members should be submitted to it so that they could not be transferred mid-way.

"Let them (committee) meet everyday for the first two weeks. It would be five days a week. We will take it immediately after two weeks. After two weeks, we will review," the bench, also comprising justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, said.

The ASG told the bench that the committee had held a meeting yesterday and there was a proposal that the panel should meet twice a day.

She said that subsequently, if the need arises, the panel would held meeting more frequently.

The ASG said that senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, has given two more names today to be included in the committee.

"That is too much. We cannot make it a bulky exercise. Persons having commercial interest cannot be allowed (in the committee)," she told the bench.

The bench also told the amicus that he cannot change the list containing names of persons to be included as members in the committee like this.

When the amicus said he has suggested two more names, the bench observed, "No, it cannot be done. If everyday you will give a list, it cannot function".

The amicus said that he wants that the committee should have a national perspective and one of the two names suggested by him was of an officer of the Chhattisgarh government.

The bench, however, said that it cannot agree on this as the officer would have to travel from Chhattisgarh to Delhi.

Gonsalves said that people like chairperson of New Delhi Municipal Corporation, Commissioners of the three municipal corporations in Delhi have been made members of the committee by the LG but none of them would be in a position to come and attend the meetings of the panel.

To this, the bench told the ASG, "Some of these persons are important and they might not be able to come (for the meeting)".

Justice Lokur observed that in the year 2000, the court had formed a committee where all "big guns" of IT industry were named as members but the panel could not meet even once.

When the ASG said that in the yesterday's meeting all members of the committee were present and sometimes one or two member might not be able to attend the meeting, the bench said, "That will not be fair to the committee".

The bench also told the ASG that they could "come down by one step" and have those officers in the committee who could attend the deliberations on daily basis.

The ASG said that she would get back to the court on this tomorrow.

The court had earlier observed that the issue of solid waste management in Delhi was "serious" and the committee would have to meet on a day-to-day basis to take stock of the situation.

The top court had on August 17 asked the LG to constitute a committee to go in- depth into all aspects of solid waste management in Delhi including cleaning up the landfill sites at Gazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla and frame a workable and implementable policy.

The issue of waste management had cropped up when the court was dealing with a tragic incident of 2015 in which it had taken cognisance of the death of a seven-year-old boy due to dengue.

The victim had been allegedly denied treatment by five private hospitals here and his distraught parents had subsequently committed suicide.