Himachal Pradesh High Court
Nime Ram & Others vs State Of Himachal Pradesh & Others on 29 November, 2022
Bench: Sabina, Sushil Kukreja
1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIMLA CWP No.3388 of 2019 Decided on:29.11.2022 .
Nime Ram & Others ...Petitioners
Versus
State of Himachal Pradesh & Others ...Respondents _________________________________________________ Coram:
Hon'ble Ms. Justice Sabina, Judge.
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sushil Kukreja, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting? For the petitioners : Mr. Dibender Ghosh, Advocate.
For the respondents : Mr. Ashwani Sharma, Additional Advocate General, for respondents No.1, 2 and 5 to 7.
Mr. Arun Sehgal, Advocate, for respondents No.3 & 4.
Mr. Naveen K. Bhardwaj, Advocate, for respondent No.8.
Mr. Maan Singh, Advocate, for respondent No.9.
_________________________________________________ Sabina, Judge (Oral).
Petitioner has filed the petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking following relief(s):-
"(i) That the respondents No.2 to 4 may kindly be directed not to transfer the land ::: Downloaded on - 30/11/2022 20:32:16 :::CIS 2 acquired in their favour for the purpose of installation of market committee yard to the respondent No.8 for the purpose of installation of Solid Waste Management .
Plant, by issuing a writ of mandamus.
(ii) That the respondent No.9 may kindly be directed to take action against the respondent No.8 for installation of Solid Waste Management Plant near the River Bank, ignoring the spirit of the order passed by the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal.
(iii) That the respondents No.5 and 6 may kindly be directed to take action against the respondent No.8 for construction of Solid Waste management Plant, being in violation of provisions of Forest Conservation Act.
(iv) That the directions may kindly be issued to the respondent No.4 to 8 to quash and set aside the agreement, Annexure P-5, by issuing writ of certiorari."
2. Learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the land had been allotted to the Market Committee. However, out of the land allotted to the Market Committee, now 1.25 Bighas of land is sought to ::: Downloaded on - 30/11/2022 20:32:16 :::CIS 3 be allotted for construction of Solid Waste Management Plant, to the respondent No.8. The land sought to be allotted for Solid Waste Management Plant is adjacent to .
Bore Well of Jal Shakti Vibhag. Adjacent to the proposed Solid Waste Management Collection Center, there is a drinking water scheme put-forth by Jal Shakti Vibhag (JSV). The Solid Waste Collection Center is also adjacent to River Beas. Hence, the allotment to respondent No.8 was liable to be cancelled.
3. In support of his arguments, learned counsel for the petitioners has placed reliance on the status report submitted by way of an affidavit filed by Deputy Commissioner Kullu. The said affidavit is dated 25.05.2020.
4. Learned Additional Advocate General, on the other hand, has opposed the petition and has submitted that, in fact, huge chunk of land was allotted to Market Committee and out of the said land, only 1.25 Bighas of land is sought to be allotted to respondent No.8 for construction of Solid Waste Management Plant. It is necessary to deal with the solid waste also.
::: Downloaded on - 30/11/2022 20:32:16 :::CIS 45. Learned counsel for respondent No.8 has submitted that 1.25 Bighas of land in question has been allotted to respondent No.8 after following due procedure .
of law and thereafter agreement has been executed between respondent No.8 and respondent No.4.
Construction was sought to be executed, but on account of interim order passed by this Court, no construction could be raised at the spot.
6. In the present case, admittedly, initially about 11 Bighas of land was allotted to the Market Committee.
Now out of the said land allotted to the Market Committee, 1.25 Bighas of land has been allotted to respondent No.8 for construction of Solid Waste Management Plant. However, no permission was taken from the Forest Department before allotting the land to respondent No.8.
7. During the pendency of the petition, status report was sought from the Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, vis-à-vis, land allotted for construction of Solid Waste Management Plant. A perusal of the said status report reveals that during the course of inspection, it was found ::: Downloaded on - 30/11/2022 20:32:16 :::CIS 5 that there was Irrigation and Drinking Water Scheme of Jal Shakti Vibhag, located near the proposed location of Solid Waste Collection Centre of Nagar Panchayat, .
Bhunter. The Jal Shakti Vibhag had also provided three Bore Wells for drinking water supply, which were located near the proposed Solid Waste Collection Center. There was a housing colony of Forest Department and Janjatiya Bhawan and also the residential area near the proposed site. The proposed site was located near River Beas as well Irrigation and Drinking Water Scheme of Jal Shakti Vibhag and in case mixed solid waste was handled at the site, there would be chances of contamination of ground water/existing Bore Wells of Jal Shakti Vibhag and River Beas. It was further observed that the solid waste and liquid waste at the site would require to be scientifically managed. There would be chances of foul smell in the vicinity, if mixed waste was handled at the proposed site.
8. The site plan attached with the affidavit, Annexure S-2, also shows that River Beas as well as the Drinking Water Scheme of Jal Shakti Vibhag were ::: Downloaded on - 30/11/2022 20:32:16 :::CIS 6 adjacent to the proposed Solid Waste Collection Center.
The said area is also adjacent to the residential area and Forest Colony.
.
9 It has been proposed in the said status report that the site in question could be only used for 100% dry solid waste and no mixed waste should be collected at the site.
10. Admittedly, respondent No.8 proposes to collect the entire solid waste from the area of Bhunter Town and the same would be dealt at the spot in question.
11. Keeping in view the fact that the proposed site for setting up the Solid Waste Management Plant is near the drinking water scheme put-forth by Jal Shakti Vibhag as well as the drinking water bore wells and the fact that there were chances of contamination of drinking water, we are of the considered opinion that the proposed site for setting up the Solid Waste Management Plant, is not suitable one, as the drinking water would get contaminated which would lead to health hazards instead of solving any problem.
::: Downloaded on - 30/11/2022 20:32:16 :::CIS 712. The status report was filed by the Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, after associating all the stake holders. In view of the status report filed by the Deputy .
Commissioner, Kullu, we are of the opinion that the instant petition deserves to be allowed.
13. Accordingly, the petition is allowed. The respondents are directed not to construct Solid Waste Management Plant at the site-in-question. However, the respondents can locate some other suitable place for setting up the Solid Waste Management Plan considering the needs of the people of the locality.
14. It is hoped that the respondents-State will identify some alternative site for construction of Solid Waste Management Plant, expeditiously.
15. Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, shall also stand disposed of.
( Sabina )
Judge
( Sushil Kukreja )
November 29, 2022 Judge
(Yashwant)
::: Downloaded on - 30/11/2022 20:32:16 :::CIS