PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa has directed municipal councils that have not filed their affidavits regarding measures to clear black spots in their jurisdictions, to comply within a week.“It is made clear that no further extension of time will be granted,” division bench comprising Justice R D Dhanuka and Justice Nutan D Sardessai stated.Earlier, advocate general Dattaprasad Lawande informed the judges that the directorate of panchayats would also place on record, through a compliance report, steps taken by the department regarding the high court order dated February 27 this year.“According to us, emergent steps are required to be taken so as to clear such black spots and, if possible, transform/eradicate the same on a permanent basis,” the judges had stated in the order dated February 27.Advocate Aires Rodrigues who had filed a contempt petition alleging non-compliance of orders passed by the high court in a public interest litigation of 2009, had produced photographs of black spots in Chimbel.When the matter came up for hearing on March 25, Rodrigues said the garbage collection has not been restarted, to which the advocate general reacted with an assurance of filing a compliance report.Rodrigues had alleged at the previous hearing that Chimbel panchayat had stopped collecting waste door-to-door. In its February 27 order, the court had directed the panchayats department to examine this matter and issue directions to Chimbel panchayat on emergent basis and file a compliance report within four weeks.

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