NEW DELHI: “We are sitting on a plastic time bomb,” the Supreme Court said on Wednesday after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) informed it that India generates 56 lakhtonnes of plastic waste annually, with Delhi accounting for a staggering 689.5 tonnes a day.

“Total plastic waste which is collected and recycled in the country is estimated to be 9,205 tonnes per day (approximately 60% of total plastic waste) and 6,137 tonnes remain uncollected and littered,” the CPCB said.

The four metros are major culprits in generating such waste, with Delhi producing 689.5 tonnes a day, followed by Chennai (429.4 tonnes), Kolkata (425.7 tonnes) and Mumbai (408.3 tonnes). The figures only serve to confirm the common sight of mounds of plastic in industrial, residential and slum areas of Indian cities and towns.

A shocked court asked civic authorities of five cities — Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Faridabad and Bangalore — to submit reports on the steps taken to contain dumping of plastic waste and implementing the ban on gutka.

As 40% of plastic waste is not recycled, the daily addition to untreated plastic in Delhi is estimated at 275.6 tonnes, followed by Chennai (171.6 tonnes), Kolkata (170 tonnes) and Mumbai (163.2 tonnes). This waste is a source of continuing pollution as plastic is not bio-degradable and poisons the environment for decades.

The CPCB said a survey conducted in 60 major cities found that 15,342.46 tonnes of plastic waste was generated every day, amounting to 56 lakh tonnes a year.

While additional solicitor general Mohan Jain presented a worrying report on plastic waste management, another additional solicitor general, Indira Jaising, painted an equally grim health scenario by informing that the ban on ‘gutka’ and ‘pan masala’ laced with tobacco had not been effective due to manufacturers playing truant with the law while a lethargic state machinery compounded matters.

Responding to the situation, the bench of Justices G S Singhvi and Kurian Joseph felt non-implementation of law due to abject “failure of governance at the grass-root level” could be countered by adopting a two-pronged strategy for effective implementation of plastic waste management and ban on gutka and pan masala mixed with chewing tobacco and nicotine.

Taking a cue from CPCB’s survey, it chose Delhi, Bangalore, Agra, Faridabad and Jaipur and asked the commissioners of civic bodies to file affidavits within four weeks detailing steps taken under the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 and the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 to dispose of the waste responsibly.

“We have a habit of collecting garbage from cities and dumping them in villages. Representatives of villagers have stopped being abreast with the problems arising from such dumping,” the bench said.

It also asked state pollution control boards and the CPCB to furnish the reports they have been mandated under law to prepare as supervisors of plastic waste disposal by municipal bodies.

On the implementation of the ban on gutka and pan masala in 23 states and five Union Territories, the bench asked the health secretaries concerned to file their response in four weeks to Jaising’s allegation that the manufacturers had stepped around the ban on their sale. The court also asked the other states and UTs why such a legislative initiative had not been taken by them and whether they were contemplating it.