The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the city government and municipal bodies whether there was any policy to deal with the disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in the Capital.
Dubbing it as a “critical area” which has so far escaped attention, a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar asked Sunita Narain, who heads the Centre for Science and Environment, to give a report on the issue of e-waste disposal.
Visit to garbage dumps
The Bench also asked the local commissioner, a journalist appointed by it earlier to inspect waste disposal in various parts of the city, to once again visit various garbage dumps to ascertain whether waste management by-laws, which were notified recently, were being implemented by civic bodies.
The inspections were ordered by the Bench as it was of the view that emergence of cases of dengue, chikungunya and malaria at the start of the year were a matter of concern as in the past these diseases had attained emergency proportions.
The court had earlier noted that six cases of dengue, two of malaria and one of chikungunya were reported from Delhi in the first two months of 2018.
It also asked the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB) if the recently notified waste management by-laws were being implemented in areas under its jurisdiction.
Public interest petitions
The court was hearing two petitions filed in public interest by advocates Arpit Bhargava and Gauri Grover seeking directions to the authorities to take steps to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases in the Capital.
Noting that garbage and lack of cleanliness also contributed to spread of vector-borne diseases, the court ordered framing of waste management bye-laws.
The corporations told the Bench on Wednesday that they have uploaded the by-laws on their respective websites and were imposing fines on violators.
