THE Supreme Court on Monday said segregation of waste at source was of “vital importance” for the environment and asked the NCR States for the compliances made in adherence to the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said the non-compliance in adhering to the 2016 Rules had affected all cities in the country.

 

“In one of the orders, we have observed that all smart city projects are in progress. How the cities can become smart without compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules?” the bench asked. The National Capital Region (NCR) comprises Delhi and certain districts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. If there was no proper segregation of waste, the court said, even waste-to-energy projects would create more pollution. Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, the amicus curiae in the pollution matter, referred to solid waste management in the NCR while flagging the low percentage of segregation of waste. She said sending unsegregated waste to waste-to-energy plants caused more pollution. “As rightly submitted by the amicus curiae, the segregation of waste at source is of vital importance for the environment. If their is no proper segregation, even waste-to-energy projects will create more pollution,” the bench said. The NCR States were ordered to file affidavits dealing with the compliances of all the urban local bodies with the provisions of the 2016 Rules so far.