Reveal sea pollution control strategy: HC
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to file an affidavit disclosing the steps it has taken to prevent the pollution of sea water and stop the discharge of untreated sewage directly into the Arabian Sea.
“You will have to come out with some solutions to what has happened recently,” division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla told senior advocate Anil Sakhare, who represented the civic body. The bench was referring to a recent incident of tonnes of untreated sewage washing up at Marine Drive. It was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the NGO – Citizen Circle for Social Welfare and Education – which complained about the “dismal condition of coastal water, polluted to the extreme level”.
The PIL highlighted the extremely poor water quality index (WQI) of the coastal waters, making the city’s shoreline one of the most polluted shorelines in the world. The NGO relied on the analysis of the coastal waters conducted by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to highlight the level of pollution.
According to the analysis, the WQI of sea water at Juhu, Girgaum and Haji Ali is 44, 45 and 45.2 respectively. It was 45.2 at Mahim, 46.1 at Worli Sea Face and 46.8 at Nariman Point – hinting high-level presence of pollutants all along the seas. The WQI for water in Mithi River was at its worst – 28 – when the readings were taken in October last year.
According to the MPCB, about 655 million litres per day (MLD) of untreated sewage is responsible for 93% of sea water pollution around the city. The remaining 7% is caused by industrial effluents discharged in Mithi River and the creeks in Mumbai.
HC has now posted the PIL for further hearing on August 10.