MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take strict action, including initiating criminal cases, against those dumping garbage and plastic waste on streets and in public places across the city.
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“Careless approach on the part of the citizens, who unabatedly indulge in such activities, is undoubtedly causing serious damage to the environment apart from causing undue pressure on the municipal machinery. The only effective solution would be the strict implementation of the laws and imposition of stringent deterrent measures by the municipal corporation and the law enforcing machinery,” the division bench of justices GS Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe said.
The court was hearing a clutch of petitions regarding persistent foul odour and gas emissions from the Kanjurmarg landfill.
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“We cannot countenance that citizens can have a freehand in creating such rubbish, solid waste or garbage etc., and the municipal machinery would go on removing such nuisance created by the citizens, deviating from the regular organised work of collection and disposal of municipal waste. It is high time that we encourage vigilant citizens, NGOs, and elected representatives to actively contribute in assisting the municipal machinery so as to bring about high standards of health and hygiene in all the wards,” the court said.
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The bench directed the BMC to formulate a comprehensive scheme for ward officers to ensure cleanliness, and to consider establishing a ward-wise grievance redressal mobile app to enable citizens to raise their grievances.
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“Unless such measures are taken at the grassroots level…(the BMC) would be confronted with a nuisance, which is self-inflicted by the residents of the city who are reckless and negligent on maintaining the basic civic expectations,” the bench remarked.
The court noted that heaps of plastic and garbage thrown into the sea get washed ashore during the monsoon. “How much of such garbage is lying at the bottom of the sea and polluting marine life is anybody’s guess,” it said.
The court said municipal solid waste and plastic materials are dumped routinely into large open drains coursing through highly populated suburbs, and the waste ultimately makes its way to the sea. The court then directed ward officers to ensure that municipal drains are covered and prevented from “becoming mini dumping sites”.
“If not prevented, it would have horrendous consequences,” the court remarked. “It is high time that citizens discipline themselves. Such discipline can be achieved by proper inculcation of civic values, which is the basic duty of every citizen towards the society and paramount for the protection of the ecology and the environment.”
The court observed that when people visit abroad, they follow civic rules because of strict municipal laws. The BMC and ward officers “cannot shirk their responsibility” to maintain health and hygiene, especially in areas which are notified slums and which are yet to be redeveloped, the court said.
“Merely maintaining some parts of the city is no good. Each and every suburb is required to be impeccable, free from such public nuisance, with every ward having streets and pavements free from garbage, rubbish or any other dumping,” the court noted.
