NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has held that “hygienic environment” is an integral aspect of a healthy life, the absence of which frustrates one’s fundamental right to live with dignity. The reference was in the context of a petitioner who was vexed with the foul smell from a public toilet and an open garbage bin adjacent to his house.
A lawyer moved the High Court, complaining that an unauthorised open garbage bin and a public urinal were being constructed adjacent to his house. He told the court that nearly 150 residents were using the garbage bin and that, despite repeated requests to officials to maintain sanitary conditions, no action had been taken.
Justice Amit Bansal examined the photographs placed on record. After seeing the condition of the area, the court said it “empathised” with the petitioner and other residents who were forced to live in such surroundings.
In the order dated February 16, the judge observed, “One of the integral aspects of a healthy life is a hygienic environment. Absence of a healthy environment would frustrate the right of the petitioner to live with dignity.” The court further stated, “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.”
Calling the situation “undoubtedly a nuisance,” the court noted that the presence of the urinal and the open garbage bin would cause stench in the surrounding area, leaving residents to live in “such a deplorable condition.”
The court directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to forthwith demolish the open dustbin and the urinal next to the petitioner’s house. It also ordered the authorities to arrange a proper covered dustbin for dry and wet waste and to place it at a reasonable distance from the property.