The Karnataka High court on Thursday directed the state government and city corporation to submit a status report on steps taken to address the garbage menace in the city within two weeks.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (city corporation) to identify and make ready at least seven more lands for municipal solid waste in the next fortnight.
The Chief Justice said for now, the wet waste shall be collected from households and transported directly to a new landfill at Chickanagamangala near Sarjapura and dry solid waste shall be collected twice a week and transported to Mandur landfill.
The present contractors shall separately carry out dry and wet wastes to two different landfills. With regard to the action taken report by BBMP, Justice Sen said segregation and wet waste processing stations shall be made operational in 28 assembly constituencies within two months.
“We see this as the first step to be followed immediately in each of 198 wards under BBMP,” he said. Ideally every ward should have three segregation and wet waste processing stations for each 198 wards and this exercise should be completed in four months, Justice Sen said.
“It is our earnest hope that with this three steps, the problem that citizens are facing shall be eradicated at least to some extent, temporarily,” Justice Sen said. The bench gave the directions during the hearing of a PIL filed by advocate G R Mohan seeking superseding of the civic body for failure to act on the garbage disposal issue.
The next hearing of the case is on December 6. On November 20, the bench had warned it would initiate contempt proceedings if the corporation and Pollution Control Board authorities failed to come out with a plan in two days.
The bench had said the BBMP and KSPCB would only act once the court puts a top person behind bars.