No construction debris will be dumped at Aarey, BMC tells SC

BMC’s statement comes seven months after environmental group Vanashakti had approached the apex court opposing the allocation of several spots, including two in Aarey Milk Colony, for debris dumping.

In a major victory for environmentalists, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has told the Supreme Court that it has withdrawn the decision to make Aarey Milk Colony a dumping site for construction waste. The civic body had earlier decided to set aside nine hectares (ha) of land in the area for construction and demolition (C&D) waste.

Trenches dug and land levelled using mud for construction of car shed near unit 19 Aarey for Metro III project (Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ). The BMC has dropped its decision to make Aarey Milk Colony a dumping site.(HT File Photo)

BMC’s statement comes seven months after environmental group Vanashakti had approached the apex court opposing the allocation of several spots, including two in Aarey Milk Colony, for debris dumping.

In an affidavit submitted this month, and made public by Vanashakti on Wednesday, the BMC withdrew its plan to demarcate six ha near unit 19 at Aarey Colony, titled ‘Aarey Colony for Mumbai Metro Line 3’ and 3 ha near Aarey picnic spot, for C&D waste.

“When the matter was first heard by the SC, we had decided to withdraw the two locations in Aarey. However, it took some time to submit the affidavit. Now it has been put on record,” said Vishwas Shankarwar, deputy municipal commissioner, BMC.

In March, the SC lifted the Bombay high court’s (HC) two-year-old moratorium on new constructions in the city, on the condition that the civic body will come up with a mechanism to dispose of construction debris.

Vanashakti in its special leave petition (SLP) at the SC said dumping debris at Aarey would be a violation of C&D Waste Management Rules, 2016.

Zaman Ali, counsel for Vanashakti at the SC, said, “The next step for BMC is to select only those areas where full-fledged dumping can be done in compliance with C&D waste rules.”

Stalin D, director, Vanashakti and petitioner in the matter said, “The site selection of Aarey was equivalent to locating a solid waste landfill inside a sanctuary.”