Delhi High Court today chastised civic bodies for doing "nothing" regarding "disappearance" of dustbins from various parts of the national capital and said that elections in the city cannot be a ground for not doing work.
"Delhi will go on having elections. Its a normal lifestyle of the capital ... Nothing has been done," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said after the counsel for the civic bodies sought more time to file their affidavits as directed by the court earlier.
The court on December 3, 2014, had sought information from the civic bodies on whether dustbins have been installed and whether there were adequate number of 'dhalaos' (garbage dumps) in all areas under their jurisdiction.
The court was hearing a plea filed by Sharad Tiwari and Sanjeev Agnihotri, residents of Vishwas Nagar here, who have claimed that two perfectly functional dustbins were recently removed from the area and put up in another state (Uttar Pradesh).
Advocate Sugrive Dubey, appearing for the petitioners, contended this "disappearance or removal of dustbins" was happening all over the city.
Meanwhile, the New Delhi Municipal Council submitted an affidavit stating it was carrying out work relating to municipal solid waste management in its area. It has said it has started door-to-door collection of garbage with the concept of "reduce, recycle and reuse".
While 11 auto tipper trucks and four big mechanical compactors were being deployed for door-to-door garbage collection, there are sufficient numbers of pucca masonry bins, the civic body said, adding there was also a regular sanitation drive under 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' in NDMC area.
However, the petitioners have stated that the MCDs had purchased around 10,000 dustbins from a particular company, which was to provide the dustbins as well as engage trucks for collection and removal of garbage from the bins.
However, when the dustbins started disappearing, the municipal bodies did not question the same, it said.
It sought directions to the municipal bodies to provide dustbins on each street of the capital and also a CBI probe into the number of sanitary workers engaged and present on duty.
