SC bans construction in 3-states

Supreme Court of India (SC) has put a ban on construction activity in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh in the absence of a state policy on disposal of solid waste management. According to reports, Maharashtra already has a policy in place and will work towards removal of the ban at the earliest.

The move comes in the backdrop of non-compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules put into effect by the Ministry of Environment and Forest in April 2016.

The rules required that each state frame a policy for disposal of solid waste, and the absence of such a policy led to the court putting a ban on any construction activity for non-compliance of the rules. We note that issuance of commencement certificate had already been impacted due to the lack of facilities for solid waste management. However, construction in case of sites where CC had been issued was not impacted so far. The ban on new projects to be sanctioned was lifted as late as March 2018. The current ban though covers all construction activity, whether construction activity has been commenced or otherwise.

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