The Bombay High Court appointed three amici curiae to address the foul odour at the Kanjurmarg landfill. Justices GS Kulkarni and Dr Neela Gokhale said, “Residents can’t suffer perpetual pollution.” The court asked the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for daily reports as the situation got worse for local residents.
Residents could not be made to suffer from “perpetual pollution”, a division bench of justices GS Kulkarni and Dr Neela Gokhale said, and appointed three advocates as amici curiae to assist the court in identifying effective measures to address the problem.
The remarks were made after advocate Abhijeet P Rane, representing the residents of Kannamwar Cooperative Housing Society in Vikhroli, told the court that the problem remained unresolved, forcing residents to resort to measures such as burning incense sticks to mask the foul odour. The bench also took note of several complaints and media reports which confirmed the persistence of the problem.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by residents of eastern suburbs, the nonprofit Vanashakti, and others, challenging the continued dumping of municipal waste at the Kanjurmarg landfill. The petitions also raised concerns about persistent odour emanating from the facility, claiming it was spreading across Kanjurmarg, Bhandup, Vikhroli and Mulund, particularly at night.
“The advocates, who have been working on this everyday, how do we disbelieve them? How do we disbelieve the media reports? One day the odour is reduced, other days it’s increased. After passing so many orders, it should have gone. We aren’t happy with this. Something needs to be done. Residents are suffering,” the court observed.
The court emphasised the need to sensitise slum dwellers about waste segregation, and questioned the accountability of elected representatives.
“You try to do something good for the public, a different colour is given to it. That’s what we are experiencing. You can have awareness camps in the best possible manner. Show us one corporator in Mumbai who has…done something for improving the conditions in slum areas. Corporator in Kannamwar Nagar, show us if he has done anything in regard to the odour problem,” the judges remarked.
The court directed the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to submit a day-to-day report on the situation and said that a meeting would be held with the scientific committee members, BMC officials, amici and advocates, to review the measures and obtain independent suggestions.
“We should show our belonging to the city, to the wards. Bring drastic changes in civic life. Those who were supposed to work, it’s high time they started working now. Nothing is happening and the situation is getting from bad to worse,” the court said.