ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 10th August. Click Here for more information.
SC relief for Maharashtra, Uttarakhand
News
- Supreme Court has lifted the ban on construction activities in Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, after they submitted their Solid Waste Management (SWM) policy.
Important facts:
2. Background:
- More than two-third of the States/UTs had neither complied with the orders of the Court nor with the directions of Environment Ministry.
- Taking the suo-moto cognizance of the waste management system across, the SC had ordered a ban on the construction activities of some states/UTs.
- It also imposed fines on defaulting states including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh etc.
3. Issues associated with poor solid waste management (SWM):
- Poor solid waste management is responsible for the spread of diseases and pollution.
- The number of annual deaths on the account of air pollution and air-borne diseases is on the rise.
4. Impact of the judgement:
- The ban on construction will curtail the increasing concretisation of cities and the pollution it causes.
- The ban will compel the states to quickly frame SWM policy.
- It will negatively affect the construction industry.
- It is estimated that the housing projects amounting to about 11 lakh Cr will be affected.
- It will result into job losses, expectedly it will impact 7.65 labourers across the states on the daily basis.
- Delayed possessions to homes put buyers in trouble.
5. Present situation:
- SC has lifted the ban on Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, as they have submitted the SWM policy before the court.
- The Chandigarh administration has notified the SWM policy and will soon furnish it before the court.
- Other states are also rushing into frame solid waste management rules.
- All the states have framed their action plan and have submitted to the Environment Ministry.
6. Problems with solid waste management:
- Only 75-80 % of the municipal waste gets collected and out of this only 22-28 % is processed.
- Lack of social awareness resulting into very low rate of segregation at source.
- Lack of political will, most states don’t have any SWM policy and even if they have there are no bye-laws and no implementation.
- Informal workforce for waste collection reduce accountability.
- Inefficiencies in municipal bodies mainly due to paucity of funds and expertise.
7. Way forward:
- Central government must check the implementation of SWM rules 2016, by the state-level advisory bodies.
- RERA must direct the builders to create facility for residents to segregate waste at source.
- Civil societies must be included in task to create awareness regarding waste management in the society.
- Municipal authorities must be enabled financially and technically to implement SWM Rules.
- The cess collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 can be utilised to bring in efficiency in the SWM system.