Trolley substitutes garbage bin in Laban

SHILLONG: A damaged garbage bin in front of Laban Dispensary was never replaced by Shillong Municipal Board and instead, a trolley was arranged to collect garbage by an individual.
This has irked the High Court of Meghalaya on Thursday.
During the hearing of the case of the petitioner, Lakhi Nongbri, the Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice V P Vaish observed that the statement which has been made by the counsel for the Municipal Board, in this matter was strange as it could be.
According to the Court, it was mentioned that earlier, there was a garbage bin in front of Laban Dispensary but over the course of time, when the bin got damaged, people were throwing garbage in the open; and in order to prevent littering, the license for trolley was given to the petitioner.
The Court said that the stand of Municipal Board only leaves one to wonder about the methodology of the Board that “when the garbage collection bin would get damaged, instead of replacing the same, the place itself would be diverted for business by way of a trolley”. The Court pointed out that it is left to anybody’s guess as to what alternatives are provided for garbage collection at the place. “We are constrained to observe that usually, on every aspect of concern and enquiry in this Court, the Municipal Board has been found wanting in attending on the requirements of law”, the Court said.
Earlier, the single Judge of the Court had declined to entertain the writ petition for the reason that the matters relating to hawkers’ and street vendors’ were being dealt with by the Division Bench.
The Court said that this matter would also be considered along with the pending matters on August 30.