Himachal Pradesh High Court: While feeling shocked over the fact that there are five of the illegal dumping sites are in the catchment areas, a Division bench comprising of M.S. Ramachandra Rao, CJ., and Ajay Mohan Goel, J., directed the Engineer-in-Chief, HPPWD to identify the responsible officials and initiate appropriate disciplinary against them.
In the instant matter, a Public Interest Litigation was preferred regarding the dumping sites located above the water tank resulting in untold misery to the residents of Motla village. The Court earlier directed the Forest Department, Pollution Control Board, the Engineer-in-Chief, HPPWD and the Secretary, DLSA to submit the affidavit(s)/status report.
Based on the status report, the Court observed that the houses of the residents, Government buildings and the agricultural fields are damaged, and illegal dumping in forest land is also taking place. The Court opined that “the Contractors engaged by the HPPWD have contributed in no small measure to the dumping of the muck in non-designated sites and in the catchment areas of the Nullah”, adding to misery to the residents of village. Moreover, the dumping sites are located above the water tank and if there is heavy rain, the muck from the designated sites would flow into the catchment areas and block it.
The Court directed the Engineer-in-Chief, HPPWD to identify the responsible officials who were overseeing the work executed by the Contractors and initiate appropriate disciplinary against them “for not ensuring that the Contractor/Sub Contractor, who are engaged to do this road work, utilize the designated sites for dumping instead of dumping the muck all over the valley/roadside/in the forest areas/catchment areas.”
The Court directed the Advocate General to file a fresh status report regarding action taken against the responsible officials and fixed the next date of hearing on 31-07-2023.
[Sanjeevan Singh v. State of H.P., 2023 SCC OnLine HP 766, order dated 04-07-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. Abhishek Dulta and Mr. Vishal Verma, Counsel for the Petitioners;
Mr. Anup Rattan, Advocate General with Mr. Rakesh Dhaulta, Mr. Navlesh Verma & Mr. P.P. Singh, Additional Advocates General, Mr. Arsh Rattan and Mr. Sidharth Jalta, Deputy Advocates General, Counsel for the Respondent No. 1 to 4/State;
Mr. Mukul Sharma and Mr. V.B. Verma, Counsel for the Respondent No.
