Bengaluru: A Division Bench of High Court on Monday directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to file an affidavit that ward committees would be constituted in all the wards within a month.A Division Bench comprising Justice Ashok B. Hinchigeri and Justice K.S. Mudagal issued the direction during the hearing on public interest litigation petitions related to the city’s garbage problem. The court, on June 23, 2016, had noticed that after the elections to the BBMP council in 2015, new ward committees had not been constituted, and this prima facie was a violation of the earlier order of the court.

Later, the court issued a direction to the BBMP “to take immediate steps for constitution of the ward committees consisting of public-spirited persons, who will perform their duties and would not assert only their rights. Then only the orders passed by this court would be effective.”

Also, in June last year, the court had directed the State government to finalise the rules, taking into consideration objections filed by all the interested public, and publish them at the earliest so that they could be implemented in letter and spirit as soon as possible.

As the BBMP did not comply with the court’s earlier directions, it was brought to the court’s notice by counsel for the petitioners on Monday that despite passage of 10 months, the ward committees have not been set up.

Following this, the Bench asked BBMP’s Joint Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Sarfaraz Khan to file an affidavit.

Meanwhile, the court expressed concern over the plight of conservancy workers, particularly their health conditions and requirement of gloves, masks, etc. to safeguard their health.

Khan told the court that the BBMP was providing lunch to conservancy workers and had increased their salary.