PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has ordered the Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation and the contractor tasked with completing the remediation of legacy waste at the Sonsodo garbage dump to positively complete the entire process by February 2023 while promising to take up the matter in December again this year, to ensure that the timelines are being met.
The Court also warned that the director of the GWMC and the MMC Chairperson will be held personally responsible if the dump is not cleared.
“The very existence of this legacy dump is a potential source of serious health hazard to the members of the public and, therefore, this is a matter which should be taken with utmost seriousness by all the authorities and their contractors. As it is, this clearance or the remediation process has been unduly delayed and the matter cannot brook any further delay if the right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution is to have some meaning. The contractor can always sort out his issues as per the contract. However, the work should not either be stopped or delayed by citing excuses or non-cooperation by the Margao Municipal Council or the GWMC,” a bench of Justices M S Sonak and Bharat Deshpande ruled.
“The Managing Director of GWMC and the Chairperson of the Margao Municipal Council shall be held personally responsible for non-compliance with these directions because despite granting ample time and opportunities, both these authorities have, till date, failed to sort out this issue of remediation of the legacy dump. This position is made clear in advance because there is a tendency on the part of the authorities to blame the contractor and the contractor, to blame the authorities. This has to stop at some stage. It is for the authorities and the contractor to find solutions to their problems. But, under no circumstances to delay the work any further in any case, beyond 28/02/2023,” the High Court said.
During the hearing, the contractor told the court that the issues about the Municipal Council not providing them with land or about the erratic monsoons for a long time were part of the reason for the delay. “The contractor has been giving one excuse after the other for completion of the work. Time and again we have observed that the very existence of this legacy waste or legacy dump is a source of serious health hazard to the residents in the area. Therefore, it is the duty of all concerned to ensure that this legacy dump or this legacy waste is cleared at the earliest, without giving any further excuses,” the High Court said.
With regard to the more immediate problem of leachate, the High Court said that the issue should be remedied in ten days. “We direct the GWMC and the contractor to jointly and severally ensure that this problem of leachate from the garbage dump is immediately addressed within a week from today and the necessary compliance report must be filed within 10 days,” the High Court said.
