[Manish Gupta]
The Supreme Court of India has issued a stern warning to the local bodies – both municipal corporations/councils as well as the gram panchayats/zilla panchayats to put their acts together in maintaining cleanliness and management of solid waste.
In its an order passed on 5 May, and another order issued on 19 February in the matter of Bhopal Municipal Corporation vs Dr Subhash Pandey and others, hearing of which was attended by all the chief secretaries as well as senior representatives from Government of India, the SC ordered all stakeholders, including the central government, state governments, municipalities, panchayats, waste generators and people’s representatives to coordinate their efforts to administer the Solid Waste Management Rules 2026 in its letter and spirit and preserve the planet from manmade destruction caused by mismanagement of solid waste.
“It should be a shared commitment to leave behind a tolerable planet for future generations,” the court said.
The issue has come into the limelight due to recent notification of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rule 2026 by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, which has very specific prescriptions for all the authorities and waste generators and managers on how to handle and manage solid waste. This is the third revision of SWM Rules effected by the ministry. The first generation rules, 2000 focused on municipal authorities and basic collection and disposal practices by local bodies. The SWM Rules 2016 expanded the scope beyond municipal areas to include census towns, etc, and specific public areas like railway stations, bus stations, etc.
The current generation Rules, 2026, transitions to a circular economy framework and introduces extended bulk waste generator responsibility (EBWGR). Bulk waste generators are required to set up and operate waste processing facility on-site. If unable, they may get their waste delivered and processed through local body’s processing centre on payment, and obtain EBWGR certificates.
These 2026 rules are also designed to close historical compliance gaps by making EBWGR and local bodies accountable, transparent and responsible for proper management of waste. They are required to register on centralised portal, and file real-time returns and data of compliance to the rules. The new rules also require four stream segregation of waste – wet, dry, sanitary and special care – to be mandatorily followed by all.
The Supreme Court has issued directions to the councillors, mayors, and chairpersons of the municipalities, corporators or ward members, gram panchayat and zilla panchayat members, being the primary elected representatives of the people, and designated them as lead facilitators for implementing source segregation and education of public. “It is their statutory duty to enrol every citizen within their ward in the implementation of the 2026 rules,” it has said.
Deputy commissioners have been directed to communicate the orders of the SC through their respective commissioners/CEO/panchayat secretaries to all the elected councillors and panchayat members.
The court has further directed that the local bodies (panchayats and municipalities) must bring door-to-door collection of waste and source segregation at its focus. They shall prepare a framework for ensuring four stream segregation and bulk waste generator compliance protocols. Door to door mapping of waste generators and identification of bulk waste generators should be done along with challaning of non-compliant persons.
RRR (reduce-reuse-recycle) centres should be established in the neighbourhoods to facilitate citizens to meet their obligations. Collection and (secondary) transportation of waste should be in closed vehicles, garbage vulnerable points should be monitored, and penalties should be imposed on persons littering. Local bodies should utilise services of special purpose vehicles – set up for solid waste management, having specialisation in managing/processing all streams of waste.
There should be no dumping of waste in legacy dumpsites, and only rejects after processing of waste should be allowed to such landfills. Local bodies have been mandated to furnish compliance returns along with photographic evidence to the district collector on a regular basis.
District collectors have been given responsibility for supervising the administration and implementation of SWM Rules 2026 by said local bodies, waste generators and other stakeholders. They will not only oversee the implementation, but also have been granted powers under Section 23 of Environment Protection Act, 1986 to issue directions, including that for stoppage of water/electricity to bulk generators who disregard said rules. They can also supervise and inspect waste processing, dump sites, public spaces and waste transportation vehicles and issue directions to local bodies (or any other agency) if the rules are being disregarded.
District collectors have also been empowered to carry out infrastructure audits of SWM set up (by local body/bulk waste generators) and fix timelines to all such agencies for ensuring compliance.
The state governments have been directed to review sanctioned and available manpower in the local bodies (municipalities and panchayats) and fill identified vacancies in a time bound manner, as well as creating technical capabilities in such local bodies. Apart from providing the funding under Swachch Bharat Mission (Urban) and Swachch Bharat Mission (Gramin) to the local bodies concerned, state governments have been directed to consider appropriately financing the local bodies to implement the SBM Rules 2026.
The Supreme Court has expressed strict actions over non-compliance of the rules and the directions issued by it. The failure to comply shall no longer be treated as a mere administrative lapse, and there will be three-tier enforcement of directions. Tier-1 – immediate imposition of fine for initial non compliance on generators/local authorities; Tier-2 – continued disregard will result in criminal prosecution under environmental laws; and Tier-3 – prosecution will extend to persons neglecting their responsibilities and statutory duty.
The court also intends to deploy mobile courts to address real-time violations.
The directions of the Supreme Court coincides and resonates with the vision of our Prime Minister under the Swachch Bharat Mission to make our country clean and healthy, and improving waste management and creating a sense of civic duty amongst the citizens. The order not only makes our civic agencies responsible and accountable, but also strengthens the hands of the prime minister in achieving his vision of Viksit Bharat. (Manish Gupta is Chief Secretary, Arunachal Pradesh, and the views expressed in this article are personal)
