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Supreme Court on Friday, directed Municipal Commissioner, Bombay to file an affidavit within two weeks with respect to the compliance of NGT Order dated July 16, indicating steps taken so far for proper discharge & treatment of effluents as well as a concrete plan of action for future. Coercive action pursuant to Para 7 of the NGT order was put aside, adding, “In the event that the Municipal Corporation does not make a good faith effort to place before the NGT a full schedule of steps taken and those which are proposed to be taken, we may be constrained to vacate the stay on the direction in paragraph 7 on the next date of listing.”

A Division Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah, while issuing directions, noted,

“The Municipal Corporation must, in our view, make every effort to comply with the directions of the NGT by setting up the required facilities and upgrading existing facilities.

Humanity can ill afford the luxury of using water bodies as dumping grounds of municipal waste.

It is absolutely no valid answer to say that the directions which have been issued by the NGT would pose budgetary implications for the Municipal Corporation, particularly when the report of the expert committee indicates quite to the contrary. The discharge of untreated sewage and waste from Mumbai is a matter of serious concern and needs to be attended to with the highest priority.”

During the Courtroom hearing, it was added by the bench that the budgetary allocation of BMC is more than many Indian States and in such situation budgetary constraints can be no defence.

 NGT had imposed a fine of Rs 2.1 Crore on Bombay Municipal Corporation for improper treatment of sewage, municipal waste, in a plea by Vanashakti NGO.

“We direct the Municipal Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to appear in person along with his response. The Municipal Commissioner may explain why coercive measures under section 25 of the NGT Act, 2010 read with section 51 CPC (Code of Civil Procedure) may not be taken to ensure compliance of the order of this tribunal,” NGT in its order said.

Matter is next listed on September 6, 2021.

Case Title: Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai v. Nitin Shankar Deshpande