Don't want Delhi to become model of change for others: SC

The Supreme Court today observed that Delhi should not become a model of change for the entire country as the national capital was grappling with "terrible problem" of air pollution.

A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said this when senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter pertaining to solid waste management, submitted that Delhi has taken steps to deal with the issue and it should be a model of change for others.

Gonsalves said that a committee constituted in Delhi had deliberated upon the issue and during a meeting on January 12, the Delhi government and municipal corporations have agreed that the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, should be implemented.
 

He told the bench that the Delhi government and civic bodies have chalked out plans like segregation of waste, door- to-door collections and have agreed that cleaning should be done twice a day and a complaint mechanism would also be put in place besides having an officer in-charge to deal with it.

When he said that Delhi should be a model of change for the entire country, the bench observed, "We hope not. There is terrible problem of pollution here."

Advocate Wasim A Qadri, representing the Delhi government, referred to the January 12 meeting and said certain important decisions were taken during the deliberations.

The bench asked him about the next scheduled meeting of the committee in Delhi.

"Where is the official minutes of the meeting," the bench asked after which the counsel said he would furnish the minutes of the meeting during the course of the day.

The court asked him to hand over the official minutes of the meeting by tomorrow.

Regarding the date of next meeting, the lawyer initially said he has no instructions in this regard but later told the bench that the date was not yet decided.

Qadri also informed the bench that an officer of the Delhi government was present in the court but he does not know about the date of next meeting.

"We expect the Delhi government to send a responsible officer to instruct the counsel properly," the bench said.