Coming down heavily on the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation over the long-running Dadumajra legacy waste issue, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday made it clear that the civic body would have to completely clear the dumping ground and not merely level the site, warning that it was prepared to invoke the “polluter pays” principle and impose costs for the environmental damage caused over the years.
Hearing the matter, a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry made it clear that the responsibility for restoring the site rested squarely with the Municipal Corporation.
“You created this mess; clean it up,” Chief Justice Nagu observed.
“The court is not going to catch hold of the contractor. We will catch up with you. Whether you do it through a contractor or through your own employees is entirely up to you. We are not concerned with that,” he added.
Chief Justice Nagu invoked the environmental doctrine of accountability, telling the civic body, “You are the polluter, pay for it. There is a concept of polluter pays.”
The Bench fixed the matter for hearing on May 26 and made it clear that by then, the site must be fully cleaned. Chief Justice Nagu directed that even residual plastic waste and polythene bags scattered across the site must be removed.
The stern observations came after the court viewed photos and videos submitted by the Chandigarh Administration and the Municipal Corporation and heard submissions by senior advocates Amit Jhanji and Gaurav Mohunta on the condition of the 45-acre site.
While the MC maintained that the entire legacy waste mound had been processed and that “99.9 per cent” of the mountain was gone, the Bench remained unconvinced so long as visible waste remained strewn across the area.
MC counsel Mohunta submitted that bio-mining and processing of accumulated waste had substantially been completed, and that what remained was lifting processed material, segregating residual plastic and carrying out final levelling. He told the court that the remaining work would take around 20 to 25 days.
He informed the Bench that processed waste was being lifted for disposal, bio-soil generated from the process was being used to fill low-lying areas, and parts of the land had been earmarked for future civic utility projects, including a CNG plant proposed in association with Indian Oil Corporation, besides plantation and expansion of waste processing facilities.
The court, however, repeatedly brought the focus back to complete remediation.
“Before the monsoon comes in, you only have a short window. Clean this area and show us,” the Bench said.
Appearing in person, petitioner advocate Amit Sharma strongly contested the Municipal Corporation’s claims, alleging that instead of scientifically processing waste, garbage was merely being shifted from one location to another, including to EWS areas in other parts of Chandigarh and neighbouring areas.
He told the court that truckloads of waste had allegedly been transported elsewhere, citing instances of vehicles overturning and FIRs being registered outside Chandigarh.
When asked by the Chief Justice to substantiate the allegation, Sharma referred to the Chandigarh Administration’s “own record” placed before the court. “I do not need to prove it; they are proving it themselves through their own submissions,” Sharma told the Bench.
“Their own Chandigarh Administration minutes are documenting it. The Chief Secretary has been asking them why waste is being dumped in other places and why waste is being burnt. Till February 2026, according to their own record, dumping and burning were continuing,” Sharma submitted.
