You don't respect courts, not even the PM: HC to civic bodies

"You don't even respect your Prime Minister" who has launched the ambitious 'Swachh Bharat' campaign, Delhi High Court said today as it rapped the civic bodies for failing to stop littering in the national capital.
"When can we ensure that Delhi becomes a clean city," a bench of justices B D Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar asked the corporations.
"You do not respect the court. You do not even respect your Prime Minister. This is pathetic. Why can't you ensure that there is zero littering," the bench asked.
"You have to devise a proper garbage removal system. Would you like to call anyone in your drawing room with garbage kept in middle of the room. For us, entire Delhi is our drawing room. We want to see clean Delhi," it said.

Asking the agencies and Delhi Police to take deterrent steps to stop people from littering and throwing garbage on the roads, the court said authorities can even take punitive action under the IPC against those people who are throwing garbage in areas not designated for waste disposal.
It also said that due to lack of designated space for throwing garbage, diseases like dengue and chikungunya were on the rise in Delhi.

"People should be made aware of the stringent provisions under the IPC which entail imprisonment also," the court said, adding that the authorities should take earnest steps to ensure cleanliness in the city.

It asked the authorities to publicise through public announcements, including on the radio, that throwing garbage at undesignated places like sidewalks or open roads may amount to creation of public nuisance and could entail criminal prosecution, including a jail term.
The court's observation and directions were issued during hearing of a PIL filed by Ebbani Aggarwal, a law student and resident of the Dwarka sub-city, seeking directions to civic authorities and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to ensure cleanliness there.
It directed the municipal corporation to take strict action against those found littering and carry out public awareness campaigns in the area, saying "we have to be strict on the people too. We must introduce civic sense in them".

It asked the agencies to make public announcement in Dwarka area that "ye shahar aapki hai, isse ganda na karen, (this is your city, do not make it dirty)".
The bench further said that the police has access to CCTV footage, which could be used on trial basis to take action against people indulging in littering.