Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Feb 24: The high court instructed the state government to put in all efforts to ensure that the scheme drawn to clear the solid waste dump at Pachanady Mangaluru gets the cabinet nod at its meeting on Thursday February 24.
The instructions came during the hearing of the public interest litigation filed by the state legal services authority relating to the destruction and problems let loose by the said waste dump in areas like Pachanady, Mandara and Kudupu. The litigation was heard by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, and Justice Suraj Govindaraj on Wednesday February 23.
Additional advocate general, Dhyan Chinnappa, who appeared on behalf of the state, revealed that as per the instructions issued in the previous hearing, the issue of clearing the dump accumulated over many years was placed before the state chief secretary and he is taking steps to get the same approved. He told the bench that in all probability the cabinet approval will be given either on February 24 or the next Thursday. The bench instructed us to put in maximum efforts to get clearance on this Thursday.
The commissioner of Mangaluru City Corporation personally appeared for this hearing. The additional advocate general pleaded to exempt the corporation commissioner from personal appearance. But the bench, saying that it has observed the way the government has been functioning in this case during the last five months, commented that the plea can be considered once the proposal gets the government approval. It observed that the commissioner can bring pressure on the government to see that the work expected from it is handled without delay.
Dhyan Chinnappa drew the attention of the bench to the fact that in the court order issued during last hearing, it has been mentioned that 19 people had lost lives in the waste dump landslide. He said that no deaths had taken place in this case. Advocate for the petitioner, Sridhar Prabhu, agreed that no deaths had occurred but felt that 19 would have been shifted from these places. The additional advocate general stated that the government has rehabilitated all the people who faced problems from the dump landslide. The court recorded these things.
The hearing has been adjourned to February 25.