The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the four municipal bodies of the Capital, asking them to provide information about installation of dustbins in the areas under their jurisdiction and availability of dumping yards for garbage disposal.
The Court also asked the municipal bodies to indicate the number of trucks used for removing garbage from dustbins and ‘dhalaos’ and the duties assigned to workers for collection and removal of waste. The orders came on a public interest writ petition seeking directions for providing dustbins on all streets of Delhi and keeping the Capital clean.
Expressed concernA Division Bench comprising Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul, passing the orders, expressed concern over disappearance of dustbins from various parts of Delhi and observed that the municipal bodies did not appear to be bothered by this.
Notices were issued to the three MCDs of North, South and East Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council, which were asked to submit their reply through affidavits before January 21, 2015, when the case will come up for further hearing.
The Court said there was a “lot of pomp and show” at the launch of cleanliness drives, but nothing happens after the photographs of participants were taken.
The writ petition, moved by Sharad Tiwari and Sanjeev Agnihotri, residents of Vishwas Nagar here, said the dustbins installed in different localities were taken away by contractors and transported to nearby cities in Uttar Pradesh and other States. The MCDs, which had purchased about 10,000 dustbins from a particular company, did not question the contractors when the dustbins started disappearing.
CBI probeThe petition has sought directions to the municipal bodies to provide dustbins on each street of Delhi and a CBI probe into the number of sanitary workers engaged and present on duty as well as into the purchase of bleaching powder and other sanitary articles for which Rs.5 crore is sanctioned every year.
