The Punjab and Haryana High Court has raised questions on the promotion of Gurugram as the Millennium City. During the hearing on the issue of garbage dumping, the High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the Gurugram Municipal Corporation. The court said that the Municipal Corporation has tried to mislead the court by giving irrelevant information.
Chandigarh. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has raised questions on the Haryana government’s promotion of Gurugram as the Millennium City. The High Court, while hearing a petition on the issue of garbage dumping in Gurugram, had sought information from the government on the status of removing the dump.
The High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the Municipal Corporation for giving irrelevant information and trying to mislead the court. Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj said that this court does not see this petition as an adversarial case and considers it a human problem, while Gurugram is being promoted as the Millennium City.
Juggling of figures to pat oneself on the back- High Court
The High Court said that the figures given by the Joint Commissioner and the Municipal Corporation were mere jugglery of figures to pat their own backs about the alleged work done by them towards timely removal of garbage and solid waste generated in the city through various agencies.
The High Court noted that the reply submitted by the Municipal Corporation also highlighted the manpower as well as machinery available for handling the garbage/solid waste including about 470 vehicles, their registration numbers and names of the employees who were manning the said vehicles.
No information was given about removing the garbage spread in the city
In the petition filed in this case, no information has been given about the removal of garbage spread across the entire city of Gurugram. Due to the non-removal of garbage, the residents of Gurugram are facing an increased risk of many diseases. The High Court had sought information from the Municipal Corporation about the status of cleanliness and garbage collection in the city.
In response, the Court said that even though specific information was sought about the total quantity of monthly waste per capita including residential, commercial and institutional waste as well as monthly construction and demolition waste, organic waste etc., the Corporation has not discharged the expected responsibility by submitting useless papers to the Court.
The court had given time to the municipal corporation to take necessary action quickly instead of filing unnecessary papers, however this had no effect on the municipal officials. Justice Bhardwaj said that the law directs the civic bodies to ensure that garbage does not accumulate on the roads and cleanliness is properly maintained.
It is common for people to get injured by stray animals that gather around unnecessarily scattered garbage. In view of the above, the High Court has appointed nine lawyers as local commissioners.
Who will visit the specific areas mentioned and submit a report about garbage collection and dumping in various areas of Municipal Corporation Gurugram. These nine lawyers will also see whether the garbage removal work is being done regularly, promptly and efficiently. The next hearing in this case will be on February 17.
