Frame Policy To Prevent Garbage Dumping In Slum Areas, Bombay HC Tells Maharashtra Government
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has told the Maharashtra government to frame a policy to prevent the dumping of garbage in Mumbai’s slum areas and to “enforce civic discipline” in such localities.
A bench comprising Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale said in an order passed on November 3 that the situation was unlikely to improve unless proactive steps were taken.
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“It cannot be, that merely because certain areas in the city are slums, the remaining areas and the people of such area can suffer at the hands of persons indulging in such public nuisance of dumping garbage at public places, pavements, footpaths, etc,” the court said.
Panel To Be Set Up
In order to formulate the policy, the High Court directed that a committee be set up that will be presided by the secretary of the urban development department, and will also comprise the commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the chief executive officer of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority.
The court was informed that slums account for 45 per cent of the land in Mumbai and that 30 to 40 per cent of the total garbage is collected from slum areas.
“This is, hence, a vital issue which the authorities are required to address by framing a robust policy in this regard,” the judges said. “Such policy to be framed may also consider all relevant aspects, including the possibility of forfeiture of benefits available under any slum rehabilitation scheme as also the right to have a free of cost/subsidised permanent alternate accommodation.”
Imposing Fines Not Enough: HC
The court said that merely imposing fines or registering offences was not proving to be enough to bring about civic discipline. It further called on the BMC and SRA to resort to “aggressive social campaigns” to bring about a change in people’s mindsets.
The High Court passed the order while hearing a batch of petitions, including one filed by Kannamwar Nagar CHS Association Ltd, concerning foul odour, toxic gas emissions and health hazards faced by residents near the Kanjurmarg dumping ground.
Abhijeet Rane, the lawyer for the petitioners, presented a newspaper report before the bench that referred to complaints of nausea, headaches and vomiting made by those living near the dumping ground. The court said that the contents of the report were “quite serious”.
“If the public at large is being subjected to such adverse effects of pollution and immense hardship, despite repeated orders passed by this Court, there appears to be no substantial improvement in the functioning of the dumping facility,” the judges said on November 3. “In these circumstances, drastic measures are required to be taken.”
The court urged the municipal authorities not to adopt a “laid-back approach” to sanitation and solid waste management.