High court stays its order on wall around Kanjurmarg dumping ground

MUMBAI: In a relief to the BMC, the Bombay high court on Friday stayed its order asking the corporation to demolish an "illegal" wall it had constructed at the Kanjurmarg dumping ground. The court was hearing a review petition filed by the BMC.
The court had in June 2016 ordered the demolition while hearing a petition filed by the BMC challenging a 2013 order of the Central government asking it to demolish the wall.BMC had challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court, which allowed the corporation to file a review petition.
The Kanjurmarg dumping ground is spread over 142 hectares, of which 52 hectares fall under CRZ norms.
The HC had said that on account of the construction of the compound wall within ecologically sensitive areas, such areas as well as the mangroves in it had been degraded and destroyed.
The Union ministry of environment and forest had given the BMC permission to set up waste treatment facilities and internal roads only on an area of around 65 hectares. However, the corporation went ahead and constructed a compound wall around the dumping ground. This was in violation of rules that bar any construction in CRZ areas. BMC justified constructing the compound wall claiming that it was necessary to prevent encroachments.
The HC had in its June 2016 order noted that the compound wall of 12 feet in height had been constructed all around the site, along the high tide line. The compound wall enclosed an area of 86 hectares, when in fact, the clearance was in respect of the dumping ground area was of only 65.96 hectares, not affected by CRZ or mangroves.
The court further said that within the compound wall there were two mangrove patches, out of which one of the mangrove patch was highly degraded and the mangroves were either dying out or cut. The reason was that flushing of tidal waters to this patch was blocked by the compound wall and the insufficient culverts. The HC had also noted that dumping and filling activity by soil was being undertaken beyond the approved area.