‘Gross abuse of environmental laws’: Bombay HC expresses shock over lack of drainage facilities in Thane’s Kulgaon-Badlapur municipality

Noting that there was no sewerage treatment plant (STP) or proper sewerage line in the Kulgaon-Badlapur Municipal Council area, the court ordered the Thane district collector to inspect the area on July 12 and 13 and check the overall hygiene conditions in the municipal area and submit a report within a week.

A Division Bench of Justices Girish S Kulkarni and Arif S Doctor on July 8 passed an order on a plea objecting to constructions in Badlapur by developer ‘A Plus Lifespace’, where Trishul Golden Ville Cooperative Housing Society is situated.

The petitioner, Yashwant Anna Bhoir, was aggrieved by the alleged nuisance created by sewage water drained in his adjoining land belonging to the said housing complex.

Bhoir claimed that the municipal council had illegally granted an Occupation Certificate (OC) for the construction without providing the basic requirements of linking the sewer outlet to the building to a sewer line. Instead, the OC was granted merely based on a small septic tank provided for a large housing complex.

The HC noted it was “really surprising” that the Chief Officer (CO) of the municipal council accepted this to be in compliance with the requirements and proceeded to grant OC.

“We, prima facie, find that there is a serious non-compliance and/or dereliction of the responsibilities and obligations on the part of the municipal council in granting such Occupation Certificate,” it noted.

The High Court directed the civic body, housing society, and developer to specify corrective steps and warned that exemplary damages may be imposed on the developer for any legal non-compliance, if found guilty of non-compliance.

“We permit the developer to gather some wisdom and make all attempts to restore the health and hygiene, qua the complaint as made by the petitioner,” the HC noted.

The court directed the developer to carry out rectification measures and instructed the civic body to promptly approve them so that further public nuisance is prevented.

Regarding the absence of drainage or sewerage facilities in the civic body, the court said, “This is something which would shock the conscience of the court. Such a large city not having a proper sewerage line and also not having an STP, and that the municipal sewerage of all kinds are being discharged into the river and polluting the river, can never be tolerated. It is a gross abuse of the environmental laws,” the Bench recorded in its order.

The HC posted the matter to July 17.

Bhoir was represented by advocates Avinash Fatangare and Archana Shelar in the High Court.