Clean up city or face jail: HC tells Goel

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Going slow on the directions of the Karnataka High Court on clearing Bengaluru of garbage has proved costly for the BBMP.

A furious high court division bench, headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen, warned the palike that it will initiate contempt proceedings and will not hesitate to send top officials to jail, if both the Palike and Pollution Control Board do not satisfy the judiciary on an effective plan in two days.

When BBMP commissioner Rajn­eesh Goel sought time to put the new garbage contract in place, the court said it will initiate contempt proceedings against him.

In a hearing of over two-and-a-half hours, the bench said, “If BBMP and KSPCB do not come out with a plan, we will issue contempt notices to both on the next date of hearing (Thursday)."

Stating that the court has lost faith in government bodies, it said the rot will not be stemmed unless some top officials are sent to jail.

Earlier, the government advocate submitted that it has identified 42 places within the city for garbage disposal. But when asked about the earlier direction of identifying five more landfills, the government could not give a satisfactory answer.

Stating that officials have failed miserably in addressing the problem, the court said children in the city face the danger of catching disease as garbage is being dumped near schools and densely populated areas.

The court criticised the BBMP after advocate G.R. Mohan, who has filed the PIL seeking supercession of the civic body, said BBMP has failed to clear garbage.

The principal secretary for urban development Amita Prasad and Mr Goel faced the judiciary's wrath when they sought more time to deal with the problem.