Orissa High Court
Kshiti Ranjan Das vs State Of Odisha & Ors. .... Opp.Parties on 5 January, 2023
Author: S.K. Panigrahi
Bench: S.K. Panigrahi
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
W.P.(C) No. 29209 of 2022
Kshiti Ranjan Das .... Petitioner
Mr.Ashis Kumar Mishra, Adv.
-versus-
State of Odisha & Ors. .... Opp.Parties
Mr.S.N.Das,ASC
Mr. N.Panda,Adv
For B.M.C
Mr. S.P.Mohanty,
Adv for SPCB
CORAM:
DR. JUSTICE S.K. PANIGRAHI
Order ORDER No. 05.01.2023
01. 1. This matter is taken up through hybrid arrangement.
2. Heard.
3. The petitioner has filed this petition seeking direction to the opposite party to consider his representation to remove the Micro Compost Centre (MCC) plant set up by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in Ward No.67, B.D.A colony at Sundarpada, P.S. Kapilaprasad, in the residential area and protection of the nearby residents of the area from pollution.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is resident of the said area for a substantial period of time and Micro Compost Centre (MCC) plant Page 1 of 5 // 2 // was built adjacent to the low lying area of the petitioner's colony which is very nearer to the petitioner's dwelling house. The grievance of the petitioner is that the said Micro Compost Centre (MCC) plant is emanating a lot of filthy smell which makes it unfit to live in the area.
5. Learned counsel for the State submits that since the State Government and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation have set up the Micro Compost Centre (MCC) plant by following the standard operation procedure as prescribed by the Housing Urban Development, Government of Odisha under Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. There is no illegality committed in establishing the aforesaid Micro Compost Centre plant
6. Since the management of municipal waste is one of the major functions of Urban Local Body like the B.M.C. and it is required to meticulously plan, implement and monitor all the systems of the urban delivery including the waste management. The Municipality is also required to involve the local people while choosing the site for waste management so that the problems of this kind could be avoided. The Municipal Corporation needs to find out the technological solution of the problem of this nature which is constantly encountered in the urban area. Page 2 of 5
// 3 //
7. Today we have lot of wastage technology available in the country like the incineration by way of mechanization and RDO production etc. which act as a solution to such issue as sought for by the present petitioner. The Municipal authority should use the technology in a manner in which it would have assuaged the grievance of the petitioner. Since the petitioner's grievance is serious in nature which requires redressal by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, this Court deem it appropriate to appoint the Court Commissioner to produce a fact finding report along with the answer to the questions posed herein below:
i. what is distance of the Municipal Corporation Unit from the dwelling Unit ? ii. how much waste is generated in the centre and smell emanating from the said centre ?
8. At this juncture, learned counsel for the State Pollution Control Board submits that the consent to establish and operate has not been taken from the Board which is mandatory for any sort of erection of such unit. This is also clear violation by the Municipal corporation in the guise of the exemption from the requirement of taking prior permission from the Pollution Board when the waste generation is less than 5 metric ton. It is not clear Page 3 of 5 // 4 // from the submission of learned counsel for B.M.C as to whether the said plant is having less than 5 metric ton or more. Hence, the claim of exemption of the B.M.C from taking consent to establish and operate is misplaced.
9. At the time of visit of the Court Commissioners, the officers of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation i.e. one officer from the Pollution Control Board, one representative of the petitioner shall be present and they shall cooperate the Court Commissioner to have a report in this aspect. The said report shall be submitted by 20th January, 2022.
10. This Court deems it appropriate to appoint Mr.Saswat Acharya, Advocate and Mr. Ananta Narayan Pattnaik, Advocate, as Court Commissioners to visit the site and submit the fact finding report. The Court commissioners shall visit the spot in coordination with Mr. Niranjan Panda, learned counsel for the B.M.C., Mr. S.P. Mohanty, learned counsel for the State Pollution Control Board in order to ensure the presence of a responsible official from the SPCB and BMC who will assist the Court Commissioners. Mr. Ashis Kumar Mishra learned counsel for the petitioner shall ensure the presence of the petitioner at the spot where the Court Commissioners are going to visit. All the representatives and said Court Page 4 of 5 // 5 // Commissioners shall visit the spot between 14th to 16th January, 2023.
11. The remuneration for visit the spot by the Court Commissioner shall be borne by the B.M.C.. Each Commissioner should be paid Rs. 15,000/- each for their visit and preparation of the fact finding report.
12. In the meantime, the B.M.C. shall take steps so that the smell emanating from the said Compost Centre be minimized and people should not face any problem till the next date.
(Dr. S.K. Panigrahi) Judge LB Page 5 of 5