Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 14: The Housing and Urban Development Department has finalized the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Bye-Laws and the High Court today directed the Tourism Department to take the final call on it for its adoption and file action taken report before next date.
Hearing the PIL on protection and conservation of tourist resort Pahalgam, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rashid Ali Dar directed the Tourism Department to take the final call with regard to adoption of Solid Waste Management Byelaws as the Housing and Urban Development Department through its counsel submitted before the court that the SWM Byelaws have been finalized and it is now for local bodies to take decision for adoption.
The Bye-Laws of SWM are to be circulated to all local bodies which include urban and rural with a condition such local adaptations as may be necessary for implementation as the special attention needs to be paid to the very serious aspect with regard to collection and treatment of medical waste.
The counsel appearing for Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) informed the court that the PDA is under the administrative control of Tourism Department as such Principal Secretary of Tourism has to take decision on it. DB directed him to file action taken report before the court on the issue.
In this connection CEO PDA addressed a communication to Principal Secretary Tourism Department informing that that PDA has received a copy of SWM Byelaws and requested for the issuance notification for the same as per the court orders.
After this information from by the H&UDD, the court directed the PDA to submit its status report positively by or before next date indicating therein about the issuance of notification with regard to implementation of the SWM Bye-Laws.
It is in exercise of the powers conferred by the statutory provisions, the Government of India notified ‘The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000’. These Rules came to be superseded in the year 2015 by the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 after inviting objections from the public, which were notified on 8th April, 2016.
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