The Bombay High Court on Friday stopped the salary of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s commissioner for a breach of court orders and failure to file an affidavit before the court, and instead letting a city engineer file it.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam ordered the NMMC chief Kailash Shinde not to draw his salary till further orders during a hearing.
The bench also pulled up the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Bharat Gograni for the civic body’s failure to tackle air pollution in the city.
“Only after court orders, have you taken steps. What have you been doing for the last six months? The status report itself shows you were not doing anything before this court passed orders. Why were these steps not taken earlier?” the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court asked the BMC counsel and senior advocate SU Kamdar. “We need to pass a coercive order even against you. We are not sitting here to take stock of the situation. It is your duty to ensure it. This is not our duty to monitor status reports.”
The bench has been hearing suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed amid rising concerns over poor air quality in India’s financial capital and areas adjoining it.
On December 24, last year, the high court had warned of strict action against the top bosses of the civic board for alleged lapses and ineffective implementation of pollution control norms.
On Thursday, the BMC had issued stop-work notices to 106 ongoing construction projects where sensor-based air quality monitors were yet to be installed.
Kamdar, the counsel for BMC, informed the bench on Friday more than 800 show cause notices have been issued.
“That’s your duty. You cannot be saying this. It is your duty to enforce the laws and ensure there is no violation. We will have to stop your salary too,” the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court said.
When Chief Justice Chandrashekhar observed construction as a major cause of air pollution in the city, senior advocate Kamdar informed the bench that construction sites contribute nine per cent to air pollution.
Senior advocate Darius Khambatta, the Amicus Curiae in the suo motu PIL, said the civic body was ignoring the dust on the roads, as construction work and dust was a combination.
“So you say these are only nine per cent of the contributors to air pollution. This means you are unable to detect 91 per cent cause of air pollution in the city,” Chief Justice Chandrashekhar told senior advocate Kamdar.
The Amicus Curiae Khambatta informed the bench there is no ward specific plan to combat air pollution as each of the 24 wards in Mumbai may have its own issues and causes for air pollution.
Another advocate informed the bench that the data on the day when the Mumbai Marathon was held, AQI at some places were beyond 200 and 300.
Kamdar objected saying it was wrong and the BMC went by its own data.
“Mr Counsel, your officers are not living in some alien world. You all are also breathing the same air as we or the citizens are breathing,” Chief Justice Chandrashekhar said.
The bench instructed the counsels for the civic bodies to appear after the lunch break with data and strong workable solutions.
“Bring the data till September, so it will tell us if you were working seriously before that or started working only after our orders,” the bench stated.
