C. Suresh vs Chairman And Ors

We have heard the learned counsel appearing for the applicant as well as the respondents. This application which was originally filed as Writ Petition No.27169 of 2012 in the High Court of Madras, stood transferred to this Tribunal and numbered as application No.63 of 2013.

The applicant who is stated to be working in a Warehouse situated in Varadharajapuram Village Trunk Road, Poonamallee adjacent to Poonamallee Lake, has prayed for a direction against the respondents to take necessary action to maintain Poonamallee Lake situated in Survey No.629, No.45, Poonamallee Village, Thiruvallur District by removing the encroachment of dumping, burning of garbage and wastage in the lake and the lake bund and consequently to restore the lake in its original position.

Praying for the above said reliefs it is stated that the applicant has also made a representation to the official respondents on 2.9.2012. According to the applicant, the lake which is situated near Nazarethpet is surrounded by school and by virtue of the conduct of the Poonamallee Municipality in dumping the waste generated within Poonamallee municipal limits near the waterbody, not only the water gets polluted but also the water source as well as irrigation becomes useless. According to him, Survey No.629 is classified as "Eri ul voyil" and therefore the burning and dumping of garbage which is stated to be happening from 2008, causing health hazard to the people living in the area has to be stopped and the dumped materials illegally done by the Municipality should be removed by way of restoration.

During the course of hearing, the Tribunal has given various directions. In fact, when a batch of cases relating to Solid Waste Management were heard and filed against the Corporations, Municipalities and Panchayats, a detailed order was passed by this Tribunal on 16.8.2016 explaining the various steps to be taken as per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 (SWM Rules, 2016) notified by the Government of India. We have also given various directions to the Corporations, Municipalities and Panchayats based on the contents of the SWM Rules, 2016. In the said order, we have issued direction to the official respondents to circulate the copy of the said order to the Chief Secretaries of the five States which are within the jurisdiction of this Tribunal viz., State of Tamil Nadu, State of Andhra Pradesh, State of Telangana, State of Karnataka, State of Kerala, apart from the Union Territory of Puducherry with a direction to the Chief Secretary to forward the orders to various officers in the State Government to immediately start implementing the new SWM Rules, 2016. The officers who were directed to be circulated the above said copy include the Secretary, Urban Development, Secretary, Municipal Administration, Secretary, Local Self Government, Secretary, Panchayat Raj, Secretary, Rural Development and the Chairman, Pollution Control Board/Committee.

The Principal Secretary to Government, Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Government of Tamil Nadu in the letter dated 17.10.2016 has requested the Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, Commissioner of Municipal Administration and Director of Town Panchayats to comply with the order of the Tribunal with a direction and report the status of implementation of the Rules which to be obtained from all the local bodies in the State and must be produced in the first week of every month and a consolidated report, zone-wise, may be sent to the Government on 15th of every month on the progress in the status of source segregation and provision of colour bins, awareness created to the public regarding segregation of waste like bio-degradable, non bio degradable and hazardous waste, engagement of authorized waste pickers, erection of temporary sheds or Material Recovery Facilities for facilitating segregation, sorting and recovery of recyclables and identification of compost yards and landfills.

Mr. V.S Sethuraman, the learned Additional Advocate General submits that the follow up action is being taken by the Secretary to Government and he assures the Tribunal that the translation of the SWM Rules, 2016 into Tamil is also completed and the translated version of the SWM Rules, 2016 along with various guidelines will be published in the form of booklet and circulated to all the Corporations, Municipalities, Block Development Officers and Panchayats in the State with a direction to supply copies to all the stakeholders and the said process will be completed within a period of two weeks from today.

As regards the subject matter in Application No.63 of 2013, in the order dated 31.10.2016, after hearing the Commissioner of Poonamallee Municipality who was present in the Tribunal and who has stated that the Municipal limits extend to an area of 25.5. sq.km with a population of around 1,00,000, has produced a copy of the proceedings of the Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Tamil Nadu dated 5.10.2016 who issued orders and directed Avadi Municipality to receive the solid waste generated within Poonamallee limits as a temporary measure. She has also stated that as on date the solid waste is taken to Avadi Municipality disposal site and the solid waste generated in the limits of Poonamallee Municipality per day is about 25 MT. However, she has stated that as the lanes and by lanes in the Poonamallee Town are narrow and not able to accommodate trucks, the solid waste collected, is first removed and transported through mini vehicles and temporarily dumped at the existing spot from where the waste is loaded into trucks and taken to Avadi Municipality. In those circumstances, we directed the Poonamallee Municipality to implement the following directions:

"1) Implement the process of source segregation in an effective manner as per the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

2) Identify an appropriate place for the purpose of disposal of Bio degradable and non bio degradable waste by establishing compost yard and other process of incineration etc. and the dumping yard. The Commissioner has also submitted that as on date the plastic waste are being segregated and they are crushed and sent to the buyers for the purpose of laying of roads. However, it is not known as to why all the plastics are sent to such buyers. The above said fact shall be clarified on the next date of hearing.

3) The Municipal Commissioner shall frame an appropriate scheme for the purpose of remediation for dumping of the waste which has happened so far near the water body. We also make it clear that immediately on shifting the day to day segregation of solid waste to Avadi Municipality, there shall be no further dumping in the present area."

The Commissioner of Poonamallee Municipality has been regularly appearing before this Tribunal and has assured that the place where the solid waste is being dumped for the purpose of segregation and transporting to Avadi is far away from the waterbody i.e. Poonamallee lake and in any event it will be beyond 100 m as contemplated by the rules. Mr. Abdul Saleem, learned counsel appearing for the Municipality would submit that a boundary line will be demarcated by fencing so as to see that the solid waste which are temporarily dumped, does not contaminate the water body. We make it clear that such steps must be completed expeditiously in any event within ten days from today.

The learned counsel appearing for the Municipality has stated that out of 21 Wards, door-to-door collection is being successfully carried out in 10 Wards and in respect of the remaining 11 Wards steps are being taken for the purpose of implementation of procedure of door to door collection. The Municipality shall take appropriate steps forthwith and ensure that in all 21 Wards source segregation is successfully done which is the main aim of the SW Management Rules, 2016. He has also submitted that in so far as it relates to the restoration of the place adjacent to the Poonamallee lake where solid waste has been dumped all these years, appropriate steps like bio-remediation and bio-mining will be carried out and an appropriate scheme has been prepared for this purpose and it will be placed before the High Power Committee. After the approval of the Committee and after obtaining necessary sanction and approval from the statutory authorities including the State Pollution Control Board, the same will be carried out.

We also direct the Municipality to effectively carry out door-to-door collection of waste and after segregation find out appropriate places for compost yards and undertake composting of bio-degradable waste after obtaining authorisation from the Board and the remaining waste, after further segregating the recyclable material shall be transported to Avadi Site until final decision is taken regarding the establishment of full pledged waste management project within the Poonamallee municipal limit by choosing the landfill site as sought by the Commissioner in the said area and getting authorisation from the State Pollution Control Board.

The Commissioner, Poonamallee Municipality shall file Status Report periodically once in a quarter for the next 2 years beginning with 1st quarter ending with 30.06.2017 and upto last quarter ending with 31.12.2018 by 10th of succeeding month of every quarter before this Tribunal apart from submitting the same to the Commissioner of Municipal Administration as per the letter of the Principal Secretary to Government, Government of Tamil Nadu dated 17.10.2016, stated above.

We make it clear that it is always open to the applicant to approach the Tribunal as and when there is any breach of the directions given in this order and also in case of non compliance of the provisions of the SWM Rules, 2016 by the Poonamallee Municipality.

With the above directions, the application stands disposed of. There shall be no order as to cost.