Irked over non-implementation of rules, the Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the Maharashtra government for failing to allocate funds for solid waste treatment plants in the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation and said the state was duty-bound to protect the environment.

A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan expressed strong disapproval of Maharashtra’s previous stand that there were no funds available for essential projects. It directed the state to submit a detailed affidavit specifying the time the funds would be released and the number of civic bodies in Maharashtra complying with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.