The Bombay High Court came down heavily on the Mumbai Corporation on Wednesday, questioning its lacklustre attitude in tackling air pollution in the city. The high court also questioned the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for granting permission to 125 projects in the city, amid the air pollution crisis.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad observed the BMC was turning a blind eye and questioned its lack of action to mitigate the problem. The bench questioned how the BMC has granted sanction to over 125 construction projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore in a small city like Mumbai. The bench observed "the situation has now gone beyond the civic body's control".
"How can 125 projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore be sanctioned in such a small city? That is a lot. Now the situation has gone beyond your (BMC) control. Now you are not able to manage things," the bench observed. The court warned it would restrain BMC from granting any further permissions for construction if the air pollution situation persists in the city.
"The BMC is not doing anything. Even the minimal requirement is not being done. You (BMC) don't have anything in place. There is no implementation plan," the court said. "The civic body has not applied its mind at all," it added.
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"The BMC is not working at all. There is no monitoring. The BMC has turned a blind eye to the issue," slammed the High Court. The bench also questioned why the 91 squads formed by BMC were not conducting inspections at construction sites.
While BMC's counsel informed the court that the squads visited 39 sites, some officers were busy with election duty. While the counsel said the AQI levels in Mumbai were lower than last year, the bench noted, "Simply saying pollution has decreased does not mean the BMC was working."
BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani informed the court that squads would inspect a minimum of two construction sites per day and take necessary action. The court advised the civic body to equip squads with button cameras and GPS devices. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on January 20.
