The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday ordered notice to the State on the public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to authorities to prevent dumping of waste in wildlife sanctuaries.

The notice was ordered by a Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and M. Jothiraman, which was hearing the petition filed by M. Karan of Sivaganga district. The petitioner said indiscriminate dumping of waste in forest areas had resulted in severe ecological degradation, contamination of soil and water resources and destruction of wildlife.

He said as per the Solid Waste Management Rules forest areas and ecologically sensitive zones were treated as special protected areas and all generators must enforce mandatory four-stream waste segregation (wet, dry, sanitary and special care).

Forests, wildlife habitats, marine ecosystems and other natural resources were held by the State under Public Trust Doctrine for the benefit of present and future generations and required the highest degree of protection and conservation, he said.

Unless urgent intervention was made by the authorities, the continued dumping of waste in forests, wildlife sanctuaries, bird sanctuaries, tiger reserves and coastal ecosystems would result in irreversible ecological damage, loss of biodiversity and destruction of natural habitats, he said.

Article 48-A was inserted in Part IV of the Constitution, whereby a duty was cast on the State to endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard the forests and wildlife. Article 51 A(g) of the Constitution declared that it should be the duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures, he said.

The petitioner sought a direction to the authorities to prevent dumping of waste, conduct periodical inspection and constitute an expert committee to assess the environmental damage caused due to dumping of waste in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve, Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary, Gangaikondan Spotted Deer Sanctuary, Kanniyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary, Kadavur Slender Loris Sanctuary, Srivilliputtur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, and impose Environmental Compensation based on the Polluter Pays Principle under Rule 41(4) of the Solid Waste Management Rules.

The court posted the matter before the Forest Bench.