The Supreme Court has directed local authorities to warn bulk waste generators that failure to segregate, store and properly hand over solid waste could lead to the temporary disconnection of their water and electricity supply.

A Bench of Justices S V N Bhatti and N V Anjaria, in Bhopal Municipal Corporation v. Dr Subhash C Pandey & Others, said such disconnection would be ordered by a special cell of the jurisdictional district collector. Services would be restored once the concerned bulk waste generator submits a compliance certificate.

The Court directed every local body to communicate these obligations in writing to bulk waste generators and give them an opportunity to establish the required waste-management facilities and report compliance online.

The directions were issued while hearing appeals filed by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation against National Green Tribunal orders relating to compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules.

The Court also placed emphasis on creating awareness from the school level. It directed the Departments of School and Higher Education to immediately introduce both theoretical and practical lessons on solid waste management. Students are to be encouraged to educate their families, while teachers will be trained as trainers. The Court said trained students could effectively act as “household-level supervisors.”

District education departments have also been directed to conduct periodic audits and submit reports to district collectors. Authorities were asked to explore the use of existing online portals for uploading geotagged photographs of accumulated waste and monthly compliance reports.

The Supreme Court further directed the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee to work through State Chief Secretaries and district collectors to identify all bulk waste generators in coordination with local bodies. The exercise is to be completed within six weeks.

The Court stressed that solid waste management cannot be treated as the responsibility of sanitation workers alone.

“The prevailing assumption that solid waste is a problem for sanitary workers alone, while the rest of the population remains passive generators, is neither legally correct nor practically sustainable, and is constitutionally unethical,” the Bench observed.

The Court noted that waste generators have a statutory duty to segregate, safely store and hand over waste. It linked this obligation with the fundamental duty to protect the environment under Article 51A(g) and the right to a clean and healthy environment under Article 21.

The Bench also directed the Monitoring Committee to focus on pollution of rivers caused by municipal solid waste and monitor compliance by sectors including the Railways and Defence.