Delhi High Court disapproves of dumping garbage on roads as mark of protests

NEW DELHI: Expressing disapproval over the practice of dumping garbage on roads as a mark of protest, the Delhi High Court has said it was "completely intolerable".

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar was referring to the recent agitation by New Delhi Municipal Council's (NDMC) contractual sanitation workers who dumped garbage outside prominent buildings, like Shastri Bhavan and Rail Bhavan in Lutyen's Delhi, demanding regularisation of jobs and better wages.

The protesting workers on May 24 had also dumped garbage outside NDMC's Convention Centre.


The garbage dumps had affected traffic in some areas.

Referring to the incident, the high court said,"This is no way of protesting. It is completely intolerable. It is also a public health issue."

This is not the first time that municipal staff have resorted to this manner of protest.

A few years back sanitation workers of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had dumped garbage on roads and even prevented private players, temporarily hired by the civic body, from cleaning it up.

They were protesting against non-payment of wages for several months.

The high court had to step in and issue directions to ensure cleanliness in the areas under EDMC control.