HC seeks status of Deonar dumpyard before extending deadline to shut it

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the ‘monitoring committee’ to visit the Deonar dumping ground in Govandi and prepare its status report. The Committee comprising two scientists, has been constituted by the civic body to oversee its compliance with the orders passed by the HC in 2013.

The Division Bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi heard the civil applications moved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The civic body has moved the plea seeking extension of the deadline to shut the Deonar dumping site till next year.

Interestingly, the actual deadline has expired way back in June 2017 itself.

It was in 2016, when the Division Bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka had directed the civic body to shut down the dumping sites in Deonar and Mulund. This was a result of the non-compliance of the civic body and the government to set up waste management plants in the dumping sites. The judges had then observed that the authorities have miserably failed in disposal and management of solid waste in the city. The judges had also held that the dumping sites are posing serious threat to environment. Since then, the civic body has been filing applications seeking extensions from time-to-time.

The advocate appearing for the petitioner, furnished a copy of the report prepared by his client after a visit to the site. The report stated that the civic body has not complied with any of the directions passed by the HC, last year. The report also stated that the civic body has clearly breached the orders of the HC.

“A part of the boundary wall was found demolished giving way to people to enter the site, which is against the orders of the court. We also found several encroachments in the disputed area,” the report claimed.