BMC turning blind eye to air pollution issue, says Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday castigated the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for turning a “blind eye” towards the issue of air pollution in the city and for “not doing anything” to mitigate the problem.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad also questioned as to how the BMC has granted sanction to over 125 construction projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore in a small city like Mumbai, stating that the situation has now gone beyond the civic body’s control.

The court had warned the BMC that it would pass orders restraining it from granting any further permissions for construction if the air pollution situation persists in the city.  “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,” HC said. The court urged the BMC to strengthen its mechanism in such a way that the measures are preventive in nature and not remedial.

The court was hearing a bunch of petitions raising concerns over the deteriorating air quality index 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. “The BMC is not working at all.

There is no monitoring. The BMC has turned a blind eye to the issue,” the HC said, adding that the measures taken have to be preventive and not remedial. The court noted that despite having wide powers, the BMC was not doing anything.

The High Court was also irked with the 91 squads of the BMC not conducting inspections at construction sites. Senior counsel SU Kamdar, appearing for BMC, said on Tuesday, 39 sites were visited. 

The officers of the other squads are busy with election duty, he said. The bench then said that election duty cannot be an excuse. “You (BMC) can always make an application to the election commission seeking exemption,” it said. Kamdar told the bench that AQI on Wednesday was at 88, which is considered satisfactory.

The situation last year was worse, he said. The bench, however, said simply saying pollution has decreased does not mean the BMC was working. When the court questioned what the corporation proposed to do in the next two weeks, BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who was present in the court, said the squads would inspect a minimum of two construction sites per day and take necessary action.

The bench said the squads should be provided with button cameras and GPS devices. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on January 20.