SC directs MCD to launch massive awareness drives for waste segregation

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the MCD to start 'massive' awareness drives through advertisements in print, electronic and social media to educate bulk waste generators in the national capital.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said bulk waste generators produced large quantity of solid waste daily.

"We direct MCD to start massive awareness campaigns about the duties of various stakeholders under Rule 4 of 2016 rules by making advertisements in media both traditional, electronic and social media platforms," the bench said.

The top court said the MCD needed to lay emphasis on the implementation of Rule 4 of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016  The rule says waste generators, including domestic and institutional generators, have the duty to segregate waste into biodegradable, non-biodegradable, and domestic hazardous waste streams, and to hand over the segregated waste to authorised collectors.

The order added, "On MCD 311 app it is possible to register complaints. Wide publicity should be given to the fact that the citizens can lodge complaints about violation of duties of various stakeholders under Rule 4 by uploading photographs on the said app."  The MCD informed the bench that of the 3,059 bulk waste generators identified within the limits of the municipal corporation, 1,449 were registered on the MCD 311 app.

Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for the MCD, said 12 task forces were created and 2,011 challans worth Rs 9.9 lakh were issued.

She said 431 meetings were conducted with various stakeholders to educate bulk waste generators on the obligation to implement the 2016 Rules.

"MCD has outsourced collection and transportation of municipal solid waste to concessioners across all 12 zones. To monitor the work, ease of tracking vehicles and bio-mining (ESBM) portal has been developed. MCD has implemented route optimisation and stoppage points of primary collection vehicles in all 250 wards," Guruswamy added.

The senior counsel underlined a 49 per cent reduction in complaints related to solid waste management on the MCD app.

"MCD has worked with NGOs to spread awareness about waste segregation and 5,756 waste pickers have been registered and provided with identity cards and personal protective equipment and access to health insurance schemes. About 9 lakhs complaints were received and we have resolved about 8 lakhs," she added.

The top court had previously said the segregation of waste at source was of "vital importance" for the environment and asked the NCR states for compliances under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

The National Capital Region (NCR) comprises Delhi aside from certain districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

If there was no proper segregation of waste, the court said, even waste-to-energy projects would create more pollution.

The NCR states were ordered to file affidavits dealing with the compliances of all the urban local bodies with the provisions of the 2016 Rules so far.

The bench had also asked the states to set out a comprehensive plan for waste management along with timelines and implementing agencies, saying, "Needless to add that the affidavits will state compliance in relation to all urban local bodies within the NCR."  The top court had also considered passing drastic orders to stop certain construction activities and flagged the failure of the Delhi government and the civic body in complying with the 2016 Rules.

The issue of solid waste management in Delhi-NCR stems from the air pollution matter in the NCR.