HC asks BMC to look into issue of dirty beaches …….Hetal Vyas
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday directed the deputy municipal commissioner to submit a report outlining the measures taken to clean up the stretch of beach between Mahalaxmi and Warden Road in south Mumbai, following a meeting with a group of housing societies in the area.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud were hearing a PIL filed by The Maha-Goolestan Co-operative Housing Society situated at Mahalaxmi. The PIL, filed in 2008, pointed out that the beach and the sea belt between Mahalaxmi and Warden Road, especially the area around Mahalaxmi temple, almost resembles a massive dumping ground.
The petitioners, in the PIL, asked that the authorities, such as the BMC, the Mumbai police and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), should be directed to take steps to clean up the stretch of beach mentioned. The PIL also stated that the police should prosecute people who flout the law and throw garbage in and around the sea.
In June this year, the high court also made the Mahalaxmi Temple Trust a party to the petition. The trust’s advocate informed the court that they have put up notices in various parts of the temple, directing devotees to maintain cleanliness in and around the temple, as well as to refrain from dirtying the sea.
The Mahalaxmi temple is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city and is visited by thousands of devotees every day.
“The authorities have put up barricades to protect the sea and the beach from getting dirty, but sometimes, devotees just ignore the barricades and throw garbage in the sea,’’ argued the petitioner’s lawyers, Cyrus Ardeshir and Neveille Mukerji.
Representing the BMC,senior counsel K K Singhvi informed the court that merely prosecuting the offenders would not solve the problem. “We are in the process of implementing the measures agreed upon in a meeting held with the members of the petitioner societies,’’ Singhvi told the court. The state’s advocate, Dhairyasheel Nalavade, said that the police are taking action and they have already come up with a strategy to maintain cleanliness in the area.
The BMC and the police authorities held a meeting with petitioner societies in December 15 and had decided upon certain measures to maintain the cleanliness of the beach. The court has now directed the deputy municipal commissioner to submit a report by November 19 and the PIL will come up for hearing a week later.