Show cause notice issued to builder for pollution near old age home in Sion

The show cause notice, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, was issued for willful violation of Section 26 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2016. Three kinds of non-compliance are listed in it.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has served a show cause notice to a developer who has begun a project on a large plot of land near an old age home in Sion allegedly without an environmental clearance (EC). The notice was served on April 13 to Safal Developers after MPCB received a complaint saying that the resultant air and sound pollution and the contamination of ground water was severely affecting senior citizens living at the Manav Seva Sansthan.

Mumbai, India - April 25, 2023: A general view of construction site behind Manav Seva Sangh, at Sion, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

The show cause notice, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, was issued for willful violation of Section 26 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, Section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2016. Three kinds of non-compliance are listed in it.

“A complaint has been received regarding noise pollution from your construction project, from hammering activity, shore-piling work. It seems you have not provided adequate barricading to the construction site. You could not produce documents like EC, IOD, CC, six-monthly EC compliance report and post-monitoring EC report. You have not submitted details of bank guarantee as per consent condition,” the MPCB notice states. Replies have to be submitted by the developer, failing which legal action will be initiated.

The complaint, made by RTI activist Santosh Daundkar on March 20, stated that seniors from the age of 75 to 90 years were greatly affected due to the large machines deployed at the construction site. “This (project) has resulted in interference with ground water aquifers, which has led to water contamination,” reads Daundkar’s complaint. “The heavy pounding with large machines causes a disturbance without mitigation measures in place. The hammering and disturbance has added to their health woes and depression.”

Advocate Y P Singh said, “This is a large project, whose built-up area is more than 20,000 square metres. As per the Environment Impact Assessment of 2006, projects beyond this threshold limit require a prior EC before the work starts. Such an EC addresses all the mitigation measures required to be taken, including strict control on noise pollution and preservation of trees and greenery. However, in this case, the work started without an EC and there was a large-scale felling of trees. Huge machines were deployed, leading to noise pollution, which created havoc in the Manav Seva Sangh. For senior citizens, this is a clear-cut erosion of their right to life.”

S R Bhosle, regional officer, MPCB, who issued the notice, told Hindustan Times that the office was awaiting a reply to the show cause notice. “In cases where the plot is more than 20,000 square metres, an environmental clearance from the government of Maharashtra is needed,” he said. “Due to the presence of an old-age home, the issue of noise pollution has been forwarded to the BMC to take further action, as it doesn’t come under our purview. But we first have to ascertain if the plot is more than 20,000 square metres and are awaiting their reply.”

The Safal Developers’ spokesperson, when contacted, confirmed that the firm had received the show cause notice from MPCB. “The documents they have asked for are all in place,” he claimed. “The environmental clearance is also in place. The notice will be replied to within the stipulated time period.”

Stating that MPCB’s step to initiate action was a welcome one, Singh said, “Since in this project, the work started without an EC, it will now have to be treated as a stringent ‘violation case’ by the state-level expert appraisal committee and also the state-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority before any environment clearance is granted.”

Singh explained that in such ‘violation cases’, the project authority would first need to abide by the ‘Polluter Pays Principle’ and would have to compensate those whose rights were taken away. “In Mumbai, where the rights of innocent citizens are being taken away by builders, more such actions are required to reduce people’s suffering,” he said.