The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday (31) ruled the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and the Kolonnawa Urban Council (UC) violated Fundamental Rights (FR) by illegally dumping waste on the land known as Pothuvil Kumbura in Meethotamulla.
The ruling was delivered in an FR petition filed by a group of residents from the affected area, including lawyer Nuwan Bopage. The case was heard before a three-Judge bench consisting of Chief Justice (CJ) Preethi Padman Surasena, and Justice, President’s Counsel Yasantha Kodagoda and Justice K. Priyantha Fernando.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Kodagoda stated the CMC had taken steps to dump waste at the Meethotamulla Pothuvil Kumbura site. The judgment notes the illegal dumping of garbage caused a major disaster in 2017 when the garbage mound collapsed.
From 2009 to 2017, the illegal dumping of waste in the area violated the fundamental human rights of the residents guaranteed under Article 12(1) of the Constitution by the CMC and the Kolonnawa UC. Furthermore, by allowing the dumping of waste on about two acres of land in the area, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) also violated fundamental human rights of residents, according to the judgment.
The judgment also stated the Western Province (WP) Waste Management Authority violated fundamental human rights of residents by failing to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities in relation to the illegal waste dumping process. However, the judgment noted that since the respondents have already paid over Rs. 908 million as compensation to those affected by the disaster caused by the garbage mound collapse, the Court will not order further compensation in these cases.
The Bench emphasised that the major disaster arose due to the negligence of the respondents, including the CMC, and stated that they must regret these failures and ensure that such situations do not recur. In conclusion, the judgment recorded that CJ Surasena and Justice Fernando disagreed with certain observations made by Justice Kodagoda in paragraph 116 of the judgment.