HC gives BMC last chance to constitute expert committee for Khajuria lake rehab

The incident dates back to 2008 when the civic body declared the lake as degraded and rolled out a plan to beautify the area. Noticing some media reports regarding the illegal constructions carried out by the civic body on the lake, Pankaj Kotecha, a Mumbai resident, filed a petition with the high court in 2012, challenging the project

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday gave the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) the last chance to constitute an expert committee for examining the feasibility of developing a waterbody in Kandivali, an alternative to the 100-year-old Khajuria lake which was used by the local body to create a recreational park in 2008.

Bombay High Court (HT Photo)

On Thursday, a division-bench of the high court, comprising of justice Revati Mohite-Dere and justice Sandesh Patil, ordered to fast track the constitution of the committee. “By way of last chance, if the order is not complied with, we make it clear that we will be constrained to take appropriate steps against the concerned authorities,” the court said, setting September 16 as the deadline.

The incident dates back to 2008 when the civic body, known as Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) at that time, declared the lake as degraded highlighting that it was being used as a garbage dumping ground. Subsequently, the MCGM rolled out a plan to beautify the area under a city-wide theme park initiative.

Noticing some media reports regarding the illegal constructions carried out by the civic body on the lake, Pankaj Kotecha, a Mumbai resident, filed a petition with the high court in 2012, challenging the beautification project, claiming that the project was carried out without the required permissions form the collector. “Despite its ownership lying with the state government and not the MCGM, the corporation proceeded with the beautification work without formal clearance from the collector and completed the ₹5-crore project by 2011,” the petition claimed.

In his petition, Kotecha highlighted that more than 100 years ago, the state government had given the lake to Vithaldas Mathurdas and other heirs of Khimji Vallabhdas Trust Estate, in exchange for their land near Kandivali railway station. However, the land was later returned to the state government, authority over which rested with the collector. The lake contained various types of rare fish and tortoise, Kotecha’s petition stated, adding that it was a biodiversity site with different types of birds visiting the mangroves near the lake.

In August 2018, the Bombay High Court ordered the demolition of the recreational park, consisting of landscaped gardens and a musical fountain, invoking the public trust doctrine which holds the government, as a trustee of natural resources, responsible for protecting natural sites for future generations.

The civic body moved to the Supreme Court, seeking to set aside the high court’s decision of demolishing the construction under the beautification project. Following which, in May 2025, the Supreme Court had set aside the high court’s 2018 order, stating that while the high court had rightly invoked the public trust doctrine, it had failed to account for transformed realities on the ground.

The apex court further asked the local body to maintain the park exclusively for public use and make sure there is no predominant commercial activity in its premises, directing to set up an expert committee to explore the feasibility of developing an alternative water body in nearby areas to compensate for the ecological functions of the original water body within a period of three months.

The Supreme Court also requested the Bombay High Court to make sure that the directions of the SC are complied with.