File fresh PIL against biomedical waste incinerator: HC to Govandi residents

The Interlocutory Application (IA) has been filed by the Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society in the matter of Writ Petition No. 2326 of 2019, which was filed by the BMC’s concessionaire, SMS Envoclean, against a July 2019 closure notice issued to it by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court this week accepted the plea of a civil society group in Govandi, which alleged that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) biomedical waste incinerator is directly responsible for a rising number of tuberculosis cases in its vicinity, and instructed the organisation to file fresh public interest litigation (PIL) rather than intervene in an existing writ petition against the BMC.

Citing health department data obtained under the RTI Act, the group’s petition points out that the M/E ward has seen 1,877 TB-related deaths since 2013, and reports around 5,000 individual cases annually. (HT PHOTO)

The Interlocutory Application (IA) has been filed by the Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society in the matter of Writ Petition No. 2326 of 2019, which was filed by the BMC’s concessionaire, SMS Envoclean, against a July 2019 closure notice issued to it by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). A year earlier, the MPCB had acted on complaints from residents and inspected the biomedical waste plant, finding rampant non-compliance with waste management and pollution regulations.

Finding merit in the arguments put forward by the group’s counsel, a two-judge bench of Justices GS Patel and Gauri Godse accepted their pleas but dismissed the IA.

“We were instructed to directly file a PIL as the matter concerns the larger public health of the entire M/East Ward and not just the people living near the plant,” said Shaikh Fayaz Alam, president, of Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society.

Citing health department data obtained under the RTI Act, the group’s petition points out that the M/E ward has seen 1,877 TB-related deaths since 2013, and reports around 5,000 individual cases annually. HT was the first to report these numbers on October 5.