Uttarakhand High Court
WPPIL/88/2021 on 28 April, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
AT NAINITAL
THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI VIPIN SANGHI
AND
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAKESH THAPLIYAL
WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. 88 OF 2021
28TH APRIL, 2023
Between:
Dinesh Chandra Uniyal & another ...... Petitioners
and
State of Uttarakhand & others ...... Respondents
Counsel for the petitioners : Mr. Vinay Kumar and Mr. Niranjan
Bhatt, learned counsels
Counsel for the respondents : Mr. K.N. Joshi, learned Deputy
Advocate General with Mr. S.S.
Chaudhary, learned Brief Holder
for the State / respondent Nos. 1
to 3
: Mr. Rajeev Singh Bisht, learned
counsel for respondent No. 4
The Court made the following:
JUDGMENT: (per Hon'ble The Chief Justice Sri Vipin Sanghi)
We have heard learned counsel for the parties,
and proceed to dispose of the present petition.
2) The petitioner has preferred the present
petition to seek the following reliefs :
"i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of
certiorari calling for the record and quashing the
Joint Inspection Report dated 21.09.2019, as well
as the order dated 25.09.2019, whereby the land
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at Village Tiloth / Ward No. 3 has been identified
and handed over to the Nagar Palika Parishad,
Barahat for disposal of solid waste generated in
area of Nagar Palika Parishad.
ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of
mandamus restraining the respondent Nagar
Palika Parishad, Barahat, Uttarkashi from
constructing and installing the Solid Waste
Management Disposal Plant at Village Tiloth /
Ward No. 3, District Uttarkashi in violation of the
provisions of Solid Waste Management Rules,
2016, being not an identified landfill site in terms
of Rules of 2016.
iii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of
mandamus directing the District Magistrate,
Uttarkashi and Nagar Palika Parishad, Barahat,
Uttarkashi to identify the land for disposal of
garbage on the basis of the parameters provided
in Clause (A)(vii) and Clause (I) of Schedule I of
the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
iv) Issue any other order or direction which this
Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the
circumstances of the case.
v) Award cost of the petition."
3) The apprehension of the petitioners is that the
respondents are developing a dumping site for solid
waste at the site in question, which is near two schools,
and a temple. The petitioners allege violation by the
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respondents, of the Solid Waste Management Rules,
2016, notified on 08.04.2016.
4) In response to the notice issued in this case,
counter-affidavits have been filed by the respondents.
The stand taken by respondent No. 4, i.e., the Nagar
Palika Parishad, Barahat, District Uttarkashi, is that the
facility being developed at the site in question is a
facility for processes, namely, segregation, recovery,
storage, collection, re-cycling, processing, treatment,
and safe disposal of solid waste, and the said site is not
being developed as a dump site for disposal of solid
waste, without following the principles of sanitary land
filling. The respondents have stated that they are
developing a scientific facility for disposal of solid waste
strictly in accordance with the Solid Waste Management
Rules, 2016, and the project is being implemented by
the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in
partnership with the District Administration and the
Nagar Palika Parishad, Barahat.
5) In para 8 of their counter-affidavit, respondent
No. 4 states, that the project in question - "is in-fact a
Solid Waste Segregation and Processing Centre
"Swachhta Kendra", and not a garbage dumping site, as
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wrongly alleged by the petitioners. It is pertinent to
state here that the petitioners have deliberately and
wrongly cited the provisions relating to landfills and have
illegally tried to use against the aforesaid Swachhta
Kendra being constructed by the District Administration
and the answering respondent."
6) Respondent Nos. 1 and 2, i.e., State of
Uttarakhand, and the Director, Urban Development,
have also filed a separate counter-affidavit, on the same
lines.
7) Mr. Kumar has, during the course of his
submissions, sought to place reliance on Schedule I of
the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Schedule I of
the said Rules lays down the specifications for sanitary
landfills which, we may notice, the site in question is
not.
8) Schedule II of the said Rules lays down the
standards of processing and treatment of solid waste.
These standards are what would be applicable to the
facility being developed by the respondents, and it would
be necessary for the respondents to abide by the
standards laid down in Schedule II with regard to
emission etc. Since, there is no specification laid down
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in Schedule II with regard to the location of the
processing facility of solid waste, we are of the view that
the location of the facility at the site in question cannot
be validly assailed. At the same time, the respondents
should ensure that they strictly comply with the
specifications laid down in Schedule II of the Solid Waste
Management Rules, 2016, and the site in question
should not be used as a dump site, which is bound to
cause nuisance for the local people in the adjoining
schools and temple nearby.
9) We, therefore, dispose of this petition in the
aforesaid terms.
10) All pending applications in this petition also
stands disposed of.
________________
VIPIN SANGHI, C.J.
________________
RAKESH THAPLIYAL, J.
Dt: 28th APRIL, 2023
Negi
