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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, November 19: To ensure that the ecological balance in the Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani region is maintained, the Bombay High Court today ordered setting up of monitoring committees to supervise all developmental/construction activities.
The court’s directive was revealed in the draft minutes presented by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) before the division bench of Chief Justice M B Shah and Justice S Radhakrishnan today. The respondent parties, nine hotels in the hilly region, have made certain modifications in these minutes. The modifications granted reliefs to the hotel concerns with regard to utilisation of the floor space index (FSI). The final order of the bench is likely to be announced soon.
The BEAG had filed a petition against the large-scale illegal construction activity and the consequent loss of forest cover in the region. The petitioners brought to the court’s attention the violation of development control rules and building bye-laws by hoteliers and other commercialestablishments in the region.
After the petition was admitted in June 1997, the government had set up a committee to suggest remedial measures. In its report dated November 17, 1997, the committee revealed that 1,060 buildings had violated the existing legal provisions. The committee specifically mentioned the pollution of the Venna lake due to the nearby residential quarters. Thereafter, action was initiated against these defaulters.
As per the draft minutes, the monitoring committees will concentrate on three parts of the region, namely, Mahabaleshwar municipal area, Panchgani municipal area and the non-muncipal areas falling within the region. The sub-committees will be headed by chief officers and chairpersons of the municipalities and the Collector of the Satara district. It will comprise environmentalists and members of eco-activist groups like Sujit Patwardhan, Prakash Bhog, Debi Goenka, and Shyam Chainani.
The committe will either suo moto or on receipt of a complaint bring to the notice of thestatutory authorities any irregular and illegal construction activity. Action will then be taken not later than four weeks from the receipt of the complaint. The committee will help the Forest Department officials to survey and demarcate forest lands, especially to see that no sewage is discharged in forest land.
The draft minutes observe that commercial-authorised stalls near the Venna lake and other scenic spots or tourist points will be relocated to centralised locations. The state government and the Forest Department will not grant any more licence to stalls, especially in the catchment area of the Venna lake. The state government has been asked to submit its Action Taken Report regarding the stalls by January 15, 1999.
With regard to the Heritage Committee formed by the state government, the court has asked the committee to finalise the list of heritage monuments and sites within three months from today.
