The Supreme Court has ordered a solid waste management commission in class I cities to examine the possibility of recycling urban waste to provide cheap fuel to the poorer sections of the urban population.
The division bench comprising Justice B N Kirpal and Justice M Srinivasan passed the order this week while examining the interim report of the commission appointed by it to study solid waste management practices of urban local bodies.
The court was considering a public interest petition by INTACH activist Almitra Patel, highlighting the absence of scientific management of solid waste and the resulting impact on the environment.
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The judges appreciated the voluminous report prepared by the eight-member expert body headed by Calcutta Municipal Corporation commissioner Asim Barman, former commissioner of Surat S R Rao and senior environment ministry officials.
The commission suggested the setting up of a national technology mission for solid waste management and the sharing of expenses in schemes by the central and state governments. It also suggested the amendment of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition ) Act to keep urban local bodies outside its purview.
It further recommended excise duty exemption for plant and machinery intended for the manufacture and testing of organic manure from solid waste and agricultural waste. Organic manure and vermicompost must be exempt from sales tax. The commission also set minimal national standards for the management of urban solid waste.
The panel suggested that big waste producers like hotels and restaurants should have a mechanism for collection, transportation and disposal on a cost recovery basis. Urban local bodies must provide for bulk community waste storage containers and waste transportation should be carried out daily. Local bodies must convert organic waste into bio-organic fertiliser, it said.
The report noted that 25.7 per cent of the population lived in the cities and the proportion would rise to 30.5 per cent by the turn of the century. According to census figures, there were 3,060 towns in 1951, while there were 4,689 towns in 1991.
Moreover, 65 per cent of the urban population was living in the 300 Class I cities in 1991. These alarming figures show that the problem of waste disposal requires urgent measures.