The Telangana High Court on Saturday rejected a second consecutive affidavit filed by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Lokesh Kumar, on the issue of the shifting of the city's main dumpyard at Jawaharnagar.
Stating that both affidavits filed by the senior officer were 'vague', the court asked Lokesh Kumar to file a third affidavit with a time-bound action plan to deal with the disposal of waste at the dumpyard, besides shifting of the dumpyard itself.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy were hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by residents who stayed close to the dumpyard and complained of a permanent stench in the air, due to inadequate processing of solid waste at the dumpyard.
The court pointed out that while the affidavit vaguely outlined steps taken by the civic body, it did not elaborate on any of the points mentioned. The bench also pointed out that a State Level Advisory board, which monitors the implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules had only met twice since 2017 when it was constituted.
Speaking about the alternate sites for dumping, the GHMC had said that land was identified as Pyaranagar, Khanapur and Lakdaram
The GHMC informed the court that at Pyaranagar, there was a lack of approach roads which could only be laid with approval from the Forest Department, while authorities at Khanapur had not handed over the identified land to the civic body. At Lakdaram the GHMC's request for land was rejected by the Sangareddy District Collector, owing to certain reasons.
After hearing this, the court said that the GHMC commissioner did not set a timeframe for the shifting of the dumpyard and pointed out that mere identification of alternate sites was 'meaningless' when they were not practically feasible.
The case was posted for further hearing to March 31.