Stop being a postman: HC to govt
The judges asked the BMC to file a reply on why it regularised 63 pandals
In an embarrassment to the Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court asked the state to stop behaving like a ‘postman’ merely forwarding reports on compliance of Noise Pollution Rules, during the festive season. The HC on Wednesday asked the government to verify the reports submitted by various municipal corporations.
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anil Menon also pulled up the government over its failure to make the grievance redressal cell, operational so that citizens can lodge complaints regarding breach of Noise Pollution Rules. The judges have also asked the government to ensure that the toll-free numbers are made available and operational before Diwali.
Apart from this, the bench has also asked the Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta to personally look into the data submitted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
According to the BMC’s data, nearly 1136 pandals were installed at various places in Mumbai for the Ganpati festival. The data revealed that a total of 331 pandals were illegally installed and also at least 129 pandals had breached the permission granted by the BMC. The data submitted by other corporations through government revealed that in Kolhapur nearly 591 pandals were put up and in Aurangabad a total of 304 pandals were installed. The reports also revealed that not a single pandal was installed illegally.
Taking a note of the data, Justice Oka said, “It seems that the government has not at all verified the reports as well as the data. We do not expect the government to be a postman (to forward reports). We want you (government) to verify the data and ascertain if it is correct.” “As regards the data provided by the BMC, we want the civic chief himself to look into the contents of the report and verify the same. We want him to take action against the errant officials who did not initiate any proceedings against the pandals that were put up illegally.”
The judges even asked the civic chief of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to file a reply as to in what circumstances, the civic body regularised 63 pandals that were illegally installed. The judges have also asked the civic chief of Kalyan and Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to file a similar affidavit. The matters would be taken up for further hearing on October 30.