Mumbai: Bombay high court on Tuesday directed BMC to undertake an extensive drive for clearing garbage from a pond in Sector 7, Charkop, Kandivli West and cleaning up the area.The direction by Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad followed after BMC submitted photographs “as of today” showing the status of the pond due to garbage dumped from slums next to it. “It will shock the conscience of any prudent person as it depicts that the natural pond is virtually blocked,” the judges said. Referring to one particular photograph, they directed that a picture of the site from the same angle be produced before them after two weeks.HC was hearing a 2021 petition for permission to carry out beautification and conservation of the pond due to the presence of mangroves. On July 14, BMC said it wants to put up a gabion wall to stop encroachments. HC then said that it must remove the encroachments first and that the municipal commissioner must take a “definite and firm stand”.BMC’s advocate, Saket Mone, said the encroachments are on collector land. On May 8, the civic body had written to the deputy collector (encroachments) to take action against a slum of nearly 100-150 huts, he said. Mone added that on June 18, a reminder was sent offering to provide whatever resources required for demolition. He said BMC “wants to create a pathway and a plantation and a gabion wall on the edge”. “It will help with the ingress of saline water for the mangroves.” After Mone submitted photographs of the pond, the judges remarked that they are “shocking”.Advocate Karl Tamboly, for Bombay Environmental Action Group, whose PIL prompted HC in Sept 2018 to mandate taking its permission for projects within the 50m buffer zone of mangroves, said the photographs “are worse than photographs which had earlier come in”.The judges allowed the govt pleader’s request for two weeks to take instructions. They said in the meantime, BMC must undertake a clearance drive. “We would not tolerate any garbage in that natural pond,” they added. The judges also directed the collector “to initiate immediate steps for removal of the encroachments”.Adjourning the hearing to Aug 6, they noted that garbage and encroachments “are two issues which can be said to be the root cause of the disease which is caused to this natural pond and in effect is hurting the mangroves”.
