Shimla, July 26

With a view to creating a clean and pollution-free environment, the HP High Court has directed the state government to constitute a Special Task Force comprising members of the municipal councils/corporations, nagar panchayats, Secretary, District Legal Services Authorities, Tourism Development Corporation (TDC), Forest Departments, NGOs and other stakeholders which will focus on cleaning of hillside streams and other hotspots.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja passed this order on a PIL highlighting the issue of degradation of environment due to plastic waste.

Make plastic buyback policy functional

• The court directed the state to make the plastic buyback policy fully functional for seven days a week so that the citizen, especially the rag pickers, have an incentive to collect waste lying in streets, jungles and streams, etc. which in many cases could become a source of their livelihood from the system itself.
• The court further directed the Director, Urban Local Bodies and Director, Panchayati Raj, to conduct training programme for panchayats, the TDC and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) on waste segregation.
• The high court added that it may also consider setting up of tourist information centres, eco-friendly toilets, etc so as to ensure proper waste disposal facilities.

The court further directed the Director, Urban Local Bodies and Director, Panchayati Raj, to conduct training programme for panchayats, the TDC and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) on waste segregation. It further directed the state government to consider the development of sustainable ecosystems along trekking routes by setting up check point for assessing the plastic/glass waste etc. being taken by the tourists via trek routes to the meadows.

The court also suggested the state to establish Municipal Waste Management Corporation on the line of Goa.

The court further added that it may also consider setting up of tourist information centres, eco-friendly toilets, drawing out standard operating procedures (SOPs) for adventure companies, local guides and camp owners so as to ensure proper waste disposal facilities and implementation of guidelines to maintain cleanliness and sustainability.

The state government could, at the first instance, consider some of the priority (high footfall) trekking routes like Kheerganga, Hamta, Bijli Mahadev, Sach Pass, Beas Kund, Shrikhand Mahadev, Manimahesh Yatra, Churdhar, Triund and Chansal.

While passing these directions, the court observed that "It has been noticed that the plastic buyback policy in the state is virtually non-functional. This has been so acknowledged both by the Directors of Urban Development Department as also by the Municipal Councils/Corporations."

The high court further directed the Deputy Commissioner, Kullu and Deputy Commissioner, Lahaul amp; Spiti to file their personal affidavits regarding the funds collected towards green tax and how these funds have been utilised/spent along with its purpose.