HC tells govt to stop illegal dumping in city

Expressing displeasure over the state government’s lack of action against municipalities for dumping garbage and debris illegally on unreserved plots, the Bombay high court on Tuesday asked it to put an end to illegal dumping immediately.

Expressing displeasure over the state government’s lack of action against municipalities for dumping garbage and debris illegally on unreserved plots, the Bombay high court on Tuesday asked it to put an end to illegal dumping immediately.

HT Image

“First, you will have to stop the illegal dumping,” the division bench of Justice Ajay Khanwilkar and Justice Ashok Bhangale told a secretary from the state’s urban development department.

The bench has asked him to determine which plots are being misused and issue instructions to the concerned civic bodies. “Only a shock treatment will wake up the municipal corporations and councils.”

The court has directed the secretary to submit information about the number of garbage dumping sites and the number of sites earmarked for dumping garbage across Maharashtra within one week.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions and public interest litigations either seeking directions to close dumping grounds at various places within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region or raising concern over the non-implementation of solid waste management rules.

As reported in HT, earlier, the court had asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) to visit a landfill site in Navi Mumbai and submit a report.