Taking a serious note of dumping garbage into Kukatpally tank, the Telangana High Court on Monday said it is better for the GHMC Commissioner to resign if he cannot discharge his duties properly.
A division bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy, while hearing a PIL plea on failure of authorities to check Kukatpally tank’s pollution, sought to know why cannot the officials deploy watchmen to keep a tab on persons polluting the tank. Noting that failure to protect water bodies would have serious ramifications for the society as a whole, the bench said the authorities should explore means to check polluting the tank. The guards at the tank should be provided with mobile phones so that they alert the authorities when someone is found throwing garbage into the tank, the bench said. The CJ observed that undertaking construction work within Full Tank Level (FTL) areas of tanks and releasing industrial discharge made the tanks in Bengaluru, breeding centres of pollution.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the counter filed by the authorities in the PIL petition, the CJ said they could not even provide specific information as to when they had cleared the garbage from the tank. They provided photos relating to the matter but failed to explain when they were clicked, the bench said. How to ascertain if the photos are old or taken recently, the bench asked.
The GHMC standing counsel told the court that precise information relating to removal of garbage from the tank and the photos would be presented before the court. The counsel also submitted to the court that flowers were thrown into the tank by people during Bathukamma festival and even Lord Vinayaka idols were also immersed in it during Ganesh festival. The garbage was removed from the tank once every fortnight, the court was informed.
The matter was posted to February 7 for next hearing. Meanwhile in another PIL plea relating to ‘pollution being caused by Jawaharnagar Dumping Yard’, the bench instructed the GHMC Commissioner to personally appear before it. The HC took up a letter written by citizen stating that garbage being dumped at Jawaharnagar is emanating foul smell, posing serious threat to the health of people living in and around Sainikpuri, Yapral and Kapra. While the government counsel explained steps being taken by the government, the bench passed order directing the GHMC to appear before it on January 27.
