PANAJI: Suo moto writ petition concerning garbage disposal in municipalities and village panchayats came up for hearing on Tuesday before the division bench of the Bombay High at Goa.

The division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Mr Justice A S Oka and Mr Justice F M Reis admitted the petition and passed directions for compliance of orders passed by the court.

The High Court has directed the village panchayats to comply with the interim directions issued by the court by July 23, 2010. The Goa State Pollution Control Board is further directed to conduct site inspection and state whether directions have been compiled by the village panchayats. The matter will thereafter come up for hearing on August 13, 2010.

The Court came down heavily on the village panchayats and made it clear that if the village panchayats failed to comply with the directions earlier issued by it then as a necessary consequence the officer bearers would have to face contempt proceedings.

In yet another petition, the Village Panchayat of Colva has been asked not to issue construction licences to multi-dwelling units without the prior permission of the Court.

It may be recalled that the Court had earlier passed a series of directions to municipal councils for immediate and safe disposal of garbage and had also passed interim directions for disposal of garbage in village panchayats.

The Court had given directions which included both immediate measures as well as final measures to be adopted by the municipalities. The immediate measures included collection of the waste to be segregated into organic waste (biodegradable) and inorganic waste (non-biodegradable).