HC appoints 3-member monitoring panel, extends stay on debris transportation

Bombay HC extends stay on transportation of construction debris, appoints committee to monitor air pollution in Mumbai region; firecrackers allowed only between 8pm and 10pm during Diwali.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday extended the stay on transportation of construction debris across the city till November 19 and appointed a three-member committee to monitor air pollution in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The court also clarified that bursting of firecrackers will be allowed across Maharashtra only between 8pm and 10pm during Diwali and ordered civic officials and police to strictly comply with the direction.

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The division bench of chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and justice Girish Kulkarni said the committee will comprise experts nominated by the directors of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, and a retired principal secretary.

The bench has directed all civic bodies across MMR to submit reports to the committee on a daily basis. The committee must submit a weekly report with its own comments to the high court through its registrar general.

The court was hearing a suo-motu public interest litigation regarding high level of air pollution in the city and two public interest litigations PILs filed by individuals raising concern over the poor air quality index.

On Friday when the bunch of PILs came up for hearing, senior advocate Milind Sathe, who represented the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, apprised the bench of the steps taken by the civic body to control air pollution, including action against industries and gold melting units and notices issued to developers. Sathe also claimed that construction of the coastal road project, metro, trans harbour link and all other public infrastructure projects were compliant with pollution guidelines and norms laid down by the civic body and urged the court to relax the ban on transportation of construction debris.

The judges, however, flatly refused to modify the stay order and extended the stay till November 19. “Out of a total of 1,623 construction sites, you’ve issued notices to 1,065 as they were not found to be fully compliant. This data is your data, and it speaks for itself. That shows how the situation is,” the judges said while refusing to vacate the stay.

The judges also referred to one of the affidavits filed in the matter, pointing out that there was a rise in respiratory diseases amongst children. They said had the civic body been proactive, the situation would not have come to this.

The court said authorities would have to come up with short-term, medium-term and long-term measures to effectively deal with air pollution and asserted the need for a study on the causes and measures to mitigate pollution.

Amicus curiae Darius Khambata then pointed out a 2021 joint report by IIT, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and NEERI containing a chart that listed the names and quantity of toxins in the air, which also highlighted the need for further research.

The court directed that the NEERI report be peer-reviewed within a month, so that it can thereafter constitute a committee to suggest appropriate measures.