A showdown between members of civil society and industry ended up scuttling a discussion on 2015 draft rules of solid waste management scheduled to be held here on Friday.
Though organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, ‘Stakeeholder Consultation on draft waste management rules – 2015’ discussion was sponsored and co-organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) which rankled numerous non-government organisations and activists.
Apart from claiming that activists who had actively pursued solid waste issues in the court had not been invited, Leo Saldanha from the Environment Support Group said: “How can the ministry outsource discussions on solid waste to CII which is a lobbying group and industry front.”
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He and other activists chimed in, saying their entry was prevented in various measures, while the discussions seemed to cater only to industries. Moreover, numerous villagers from Mavallipura on the outskirts of the city – where Bengaluru’s waste is currently being dumped – objected to the proceedings being entirely in English and effectively excluding them from the discussions.
Bishwanath Sinha, Joint Secretary, MoEFCC, attempted to explain that the discussion was the first in a series of meetings with various stakeholders. “The rules have only been put up in the website so far. After it has been published in the gazette, there is another 560 days for discussions. A nation-wide series of discussions with all stakeholders will be held,” he said.
However, with the proceedings being heckled and interrupted, officials and CII eventually walked out of the programme before even the formal inauguration had begun. The programme had drawn industrialists from neighbouring countries as well as few government representatives from the state.
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