The Delhi High Court has held that the presence of a public urinal and an open garbage bin immediately adjacent to a residential property infringes the constitutional right to live with dignity in a clean and healthy environment. The Court ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to demolish both structures and relocate waste facilities away from the petitioner’s home.
Justice Amit Bansal passed the directions while hearing a plea filed by a lawyer who complained that an unauthorised open dustbin and urinal had been constructed along the eastern wall of his house. According to the petitioner, nearly 150 residents were using the bin for waste disposal, and despite repeated representations to civic authorities, no steps were taken to maintain sanitary conditions.
Emphasising the constitutional dimension of environmental hygiene, the Court observed that a clean and healthy environment is integral to the right to life under Article 21. It noted that the absence of hygienic surroundings frustrates the right to live with dignity.
“The presence of a public urinal and an open garbage bin right next to the petitioner’s house clearly violates his right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, which includes the right to live with dignity in a clean and healthy environment,” the Court said in its February 16 order.
The judge recorded that photographs placed on record showed the unhygienic condition in the locality and acknowledged the difficulties faced not only by the petitioner but also by other residents. The Court said such facilities inevitably generate foul odour and create a nuisance, forcing people to live in “deplorable” surroundings.
Terming the situation an “undoubted nuisance,” the Court directed the MCD to immediately demolish the open dustbin and the urinal located next to the petitioner’s property. It further ordered the civic body to provide a proper covered waste bin for segregation of dry and wet waste and to place it at a reasonable distance from the house.
