Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 31: The state high court, noting that garbage continues to be dumped at the solid waste landfill site of Mangaluru City Corporation at Pachanady, asked the local environment officer of Karnataka Pollution Control Board to visit the spot and file a report about the current situation there.

The division bench of the Chief Justice A S Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj took up the public interest litigation filed by Karnataka Legal Services Authority about the miseries unleashed by the solid waste unit at Pachanady which had suffered landslide and created grave problems at Pachanady, Kudupu and Mandara areas located by its side. The petition was taken up by the division bench on Tuesday March 30.

Advocate for the petitioners, Sridhar Prabhu, informed the bench that the corporation has not stopped disposing of its garbage at the said site even now. He said that it rained at Mangaluru on Monday and in a few weeks, monsoon will begin. Taking into consideration that further rains can give rise to grave trouble, he urged the high court to issue suitable directions to the government.

The bench, taking serious cognizance of the issue, asked Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to file status report. The officer of the department was directed to accompany the city corporation commissioner and district secretary of the legal services authority to the spot during the visit.

The bench directed the government and the corporation to own a clear stand on the question of acquiring the land on which the garbage had spread during the landslide. It also asked the government and Mangaluru Smart City Project Ltd to inform whether they can extend financial support to the corporation if the corporation faces dearth of funds. It adjourned the hearing to April 16.