Delhi HC slams government for lack of plastic waste management

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Thursday slammed civic bodies and the Delhi government for failing to create byelaws to deal with plastic waste management, and said plastic is major cause of clogged drains and waterlogging.

A division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar said: "Do you realise half of this clogging takes place because of plastic waste. You have to frame rules. As of now there is no plastic waste management in Delhi."

"It appears that the local bodies of Delhi are not serious. Therefore, we direct them to frame byelaws and implement them as soon as possible," it added.

Counsel for the Public Works Department (PWD) said that the PWD was responsible for only 1,226 km of road length in the city and the city's three civic bodies are not performing their duties of cleaning the drainage.

Three counsel appearing for the civic bodies said they should not be blamed for the overflowing drains during rains as it was the PWD's responsibility also.

The court has been monitoring the issue of clogged drains and waterlogging, raised through a PIL, since 2005. It had issued several directions over the years to resolve the issue.