Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Dec 3: In connection with the incident in which a part of the huge garbage dump at Pachanady had suffered landslide and covered a huge area spread over Pachanady, Kudupu and Mandara areas of the city, the state high court has directed the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) to enter into an official agreement with the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to study the drinking water situation there.

The high court's division bench presided over by the Chief Justice of the state high court, A S Oka, issued this direction when disposing of a public interest litigation filed by Karnataka Legal Services Authority on the issue.

Pachanady garbage landslide (file photo)

During the hearing, advocate for the corporation said that his client is not averse to entering into an agreement with NEERI. The bench thereafter asked the corporation to enter into an agreement with NEERI. It also directed Karnataka Pollution Control Board to take necessary steps to register criminal cases against erring officials whose lapses caused the tragedy in the waste disposal system.

Advocate Sridhar Prabhu, arguing on behalf of the petitioners during the hearing, said that Smart City Company Ltd has been undertaking various works in the city as a result of which lot of construction waste has been generated. He drew the attention of the high court that the company has failed to handle the waste as per the solid waste handling rules.

The bench which viewed this lapse seriously, took the Smart City Company Ltd to task. It warned that order to put on hold all the works would be issued if the situation continues as it is, and if the company fails to dispose waste as per rules.