Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Kithiganahalli lake pollution
The town municipal council (TMC) in Bengaluru’s Bommasandra has not dumped garbage into or near the Kithiganahalli lake for the past one-and-a-half years, according to the report filed by Karnataka’s urban development department before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) September 15, 2020.
The report stated the steps taken to stop pollution in Kithiganahalli lake. Approximately six tonnes per day (TPD) of wet waste was being handed over to farmers to use it as compost in their fields, it said.
TMC Bommasandra doesn’t have a dedicated solid waste management (SWM) site for scientific processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes. The report added that the chief officer of TMC Bommasandra had made several written requests to deputy commissioner, Bengaluru Urban District as well as to the tahsildar of Anekal taluk, to allocate suitable land for handling of municipal solid waste.
The urban development department issued instructions to Bommasandra lndustries Association to take up lake rejuvenation activities on war footing. They include:
Mental Healthcare Act, 2017
The Supreme Court (SC) September 14 directed that a notice be issued to the Attorney General for India to justify the validity of Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, which virtually negates Section 309 Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The ruling came in the wake of an application filed before the apex court seeking directions to ensure prevention of suicide attempts by persons by throwing themselves inside animal enclosures in zoos.
It is to commit suicide under Section 309 of the IPC.
Waste management in Kochi
The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) filed its report before the NGT on solid waste management in the municipalities of Aluva, Angamali, Kalamassery, Maradu, Thrikkakara and Thrippunithura as well as Cheranallur and Vadavucode-Puthencruz panchayats. The report ascertained the compliance of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in these places.
The chairman of KSPCB directed the Kochi Municipal Corporation and the municipalities transferring waste to Brahmapuram to furnish the details and file an action-taken report, according to the report.
Maradu municipality reported they were not transferring waste to Brahmapuram; instead decentralised wet waste treatment facilities were constructed in the municipality.
Construction and demolition (C&D) wastes were not collected nor mixed with other wastes collected; they were transported and treated by the corporation. The C&D wastes were reused for filling low-lying and basement areas and for construction of pavement tiles and kerb stones, the report stated.
Biodegradable wastes from municipalities Aluva, Angamaly, Kalamassery, Thrikkakara and Thrippunithura submitted their action taken report and time bound action plan to bring down the quantity of biodegradable waste to be treated in Brahmapuram, the report added.
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