High court raps BMC for ‘doing nothing’ to mitigate air pollution in Mumbai

The court warned the civic body that it would pass orders restraining it from granting any further permissions for construction if the condition did not improve

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reprimanded the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for turning a blind eye towards worsening air pollution in the city and not taking any effective measures to mitigate the problem. The court warned the civic body that it would pass orders restraining it from granting any further permissions for construction if the condition did not improve.

The court was hearing a suo-motu public interest litigation taken up in 2023 and a bunch of intervention applications filed recently after the air quality index dropped substantially. (File)

The bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad asked how the civic body had approved more than 125 construction projects, worth over ₹1,000 crore, in a crowded city like Mumbai.

“How can 125 projects worth over ₹1,000 crore be sanctioned in such a small city,” the judges asked, “That is a lot. Now the situation has gone beyond your control. Now you are not able to manage things.”

The court was hearing a suo-motu public interest litigation taken up in 2023 and a bunch of intervention applications filed recently after the air quality index dropped substantially. The observations came after amicus curiae Darius Khambata pointed out that the measures taken by the BMC were mainly reactionary in nature and not remedial.

The judges said the BMC was “not doing anything” and even the minimal requirements were not fulfilled and there was nothing in place to implement the measures to mitigate the air pollution.

“The BMC is not working at all. There is no monitoring. It has turned a blind eye to the issue,” the judges said while noticing inaction reflected from a five-member committee appointed by it.

The judges were irked to note that the BMC had done nothing except issue show-cause notices, despite having wide powers to take appropriate action against sites causing air pollution. The bench also noted that many of the BMC’s special squads were not conducting inspections at construction sites, after senior counsel SU Kamdar, appearing for the BMC, informed the court that on Tuesday, civic squads inspected 39 sites. Most of the civic officials on the BMC’s 91 squads had been requisitioned for election duties and were therefore unable to cover more sites, Kamdar said.

The judges, however, said that the election duty cannot be an excuse, and the civic body could always make an application to the election commission seeking exemption for the officials concerned.

After the senior advocate claimed that the AQI for the city on Wednesday was 88, which is considered satisfactory, the judges said that did not mean that the corporation was working.

When the court asked the BMC what it planned to do in the next two weeks, BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who was present in court, said civic squads would inspect a minimum of two construction sites every day and take necessary action to mitigate air pollution.

The court has now posted the matter for hearing on January 20.