Gujarat High Court
Unnat Dineshkumar Patel vs State Of Gujarat on 22 October, 2021
Author: J.B.Pardiwala
Bench: J.B.Pardiwala
C/WPPIL/14/2017 ORDER DATED: 22/10/2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. 14 of 2017
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UNNAT DINESHKUMAR PATEL
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & 2 other(s)
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Appearance:
HCLS COMMITTEE(4998) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR.HARDIK B SHAH(3751) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
ADVANCE COPY SERVED TO GOVERNMENT PLEADER/PP(99) for the Opponent(s)
No. 1
CHINTAN H DAVE(7193) for the Opponent(s) No. 4
MR JAPAN V DAVE(5947) for the Opponent(s) No. 2
NOTICE SERVED(4) for the Opponent(s) No. 1,3
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NIRAL R. MEHTA
Date : 22/10/2021
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA) 1 Pursuant to our order dated 8 th October 2021, the Chief Officer of the Anand Nagarpalika is personally present in the Court. Mr. Rakhaliya, the Unit Head of Solid Waste, Gujarat Pollution Control Board is also personally present in the Court. The report filed by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board is very disturbing.
2 As on date, 2,80,000 Metric Tons of solid waste has been dumped at the site. The report at page : 88 reads thus:
"This site is visited w.r.to. H.O. directions regarding PIL filed in the Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat against Anand dumping site located at sr. no. 400 to 402, 408 & 410 to 425 near Khodiyarmata Temple, Anand-Lambhvel Road, at: Lambhvel, Anand (Lat:22.5795931, Long:72.9459693). The site is located adjacent to oxidation pond of Anand Nagarpalika and the processing facility is located @ 50m away from the oxidation pond of Anand Nagarpalika. The MSW is being dumped on the site in such a manner that waste has reached the edge Page 1 of 3 Downloaded on : Sat Oct 23 08:02:46 IST 2021 C/WPPIL/14/2017 ORDER DATED: 22/10/2021 of the oxidation pond. Khodiyarmata temple is located @ 220m away from the site. Nearest residential society named Shiv Apple Aroma is @ 295m away and Laksh Iris is @ 330m away from the site. Shristi English Medium School is @ 360m away and Jalaram International School is @800m away from the site. However, there are scattered kachcha pakka houses observed within 200m of the site.
During visit it is observed that dumping of municipal solid waste at the site is going on. During inspection @ 2,80000 MT waste found dumped at site. During visit it is observed that they have spread the municipal solid waste in the entire area. During visit it is also observed that there is no basic necessary facilities like proper approach road, lighting, fencing, boundary wall etc. provided. Since, there is no boundary wall provided. During visit it is observed that number of cows have entered the premises and are feeding on the Municipal Solid Waste.
The provided weigh bridge is not observed in operation during visit. During visit it ts observed that the provided furnace like single chamber for disposal of dead animals is in dismantled condition and seems like not in use since long. Stack of the same is also observed disconnected and no stack monitoring facility (platform and ladder) has been provided. The provided hydraulic bailing press machine to compress plastic and make bundle for selling to the scrap dealer is observed in idle condition. The Municipality has done contract with M/ s. Darbar Waste Corporation for material recovery. During visit it is observed that manual segregation of plastic, glass, paper, cardboards etc. is going on. They have provided 60 TPD.-capacity of MRF (Material recovery facility - manual) for dry waste, composting pit (Vermi compost) for wet waste on site. During visit waste for segregation is observed fully filled and overflowing from the shed and observed in open area without RCC flooring. There is no machinery for Material Recovery Facility provided. After segregation they are selling segregated plastic, glass, paper, cardboards etc, to the scrap dealer. The provided digester and methane reactor is not observed in operation. The provided 4 no's of composting pit are found filled with soil and non-biodegradable waste. There is no Bio-mining facility and Refused derived fuel facility observed within premises during visit. During visit, sorting of MSW is not found in operation due to rain fall. @ 96.5 MT of RDF is stored within this processing site which is recovered from @ 90000 MT legacy waste.
There is no fumes/burning of municipal solid waste observed at dumping site. Ambient air quality is found normal. Housekeeping is found very poor in processing facility area. Anand Nagarpalika has been asked several times to submit time bound action plan for installation of proper MSW Processing facility. However, the same has not been received so far. Board has renewed authorization under Solid Waste Page 2 of 3 Downloaded on : Sat Oct 23 08:02:46 IST 2021 C/WPPIL/14/2017 ORDER DATED: 22/10/2021 Management Rules, 2016 which is valid up to dt.23/07/2025. The following instructions:
1. Provide proper basic necessary facilities like proper approach road, lightning, fencing etc.
2. Provide proper boundary wall to keep away stray animals from the site.
3. Collect all spread out MSW with JCB and stack it neatly at middle of the site.
4. Submit time bound action plan for installation of proper MSW processing facility.
5. Cover the MSW with fresh soil whenever bio mass burning starts. in order to stop the same and curb Air pollution.
6. Provide secured sanitary landfill site for disposal of MSW.
7. Provide proper shed and flooring for storage of RDF & other segregated waste.
8. Improve housekeeping within the processing facility area."
3 We are of the view that immediate steps need to be taken, otherwise any further delay may lead to a potential health hazard. We request Ms. Manisha Lavkumar Shah, the learned Senior Counsel to look into this litigation and assist this Court on behalf of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board. We request Ms. Shah to assist us as to what steps should be taken at the earliest to ensure that no further damage is caused. 2,80,000 Metric Tons of solid waste is something more than just a matter of concern. Post this matter on top of the Board on 28 th October 2021.
(J. B. PARDIWALA, J) (NIRAL R. MEHTA,J) CHANDRESH Page 3 of 3 Downloaded on : Sat Oct 23 08:02:46 IST 2021