Expressing displeasure over the ‘insensitive and uncooperative’ method of Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) in offering extra bogs to a slum space in suburban Mumbai, the Bombay Excessive Court docket final week mentioned that it was the civic physique’s constitutional obligation to supply minimal sanitation amenities.
The bench on October 4 directed the BMC Commissioner to make sure that short-term bathroom blocks are put in in slums at Kalina, Santacruz (East) inside fifteen days.
A division bench of Justices Mahesh S Sonak and Kamal R Khata famous that it was ‘a particularly unlucky’ case, the place petitioners, who reside within the mentioned slum space ‘are compelled to method’ the HC, in search of path to BMC to supply moderately adequate bathroom blocks for women and men, as a result of acute inadequacy of bogs servicing the mentioned space.
Advocate Chandani Chawla for petitioners mentioned the slum consists of 400 households inside almost 1600 individuals and presently had solely ten bathroom blocks together with six for males and 4 for girls, and the identical was ‘woefully inadequate.”
Final 12 months, the BMC had knowledgeable the HC that extra bogs couldn’t be constructed because the land belonged to Maharashtra Housing and Space Improvement Authority (MHADA), and the authority’s No Objection Certificates (NOC) was required.
Nevertheless, on Friday, MHADA, by way of an affidavit, instructed the bench that it had already issued NOC in June, final 12 months.
The bench mentioned the BMC had ‘misled’ it and “had no regret for making false and deceptive statements earlier than the courtroom.” As an alternative it cited a ‘host of different issues’ together with lack of entry to MHADA property close to bathroom blocks. The MHADA submitted that it had no points offering entry.
The bench referred to a previous judgement of the Supreme Court docket that held the fitting to life beneath Article 21 of structure “can’t be restricted to mere animal existence or simply bodily survival”.
“Contemplating the expansive scope of Article 21 of the Structure, it could be too late even to recommend that offering minimal sanitation and bathroom amenities for slum dwellers shouldn’t be a constitutional obligation of municipal authorities just like the BMC.
Subsequently, we’re fairly stunned that the angle of the BMC in first, deceptive this Court docket by apportioning the blame on MHADA, and second, putting innumerable hurdles to keep away from compliance with its constitutional obligations.”
It added, “All the method, we are saying so, with regrets, is most uncooperative and insensitive.”
The bench additionally noticed that “BMC being thought-about richest municipal company within the nation didn’t have an choice to plead lack of finance.”
The BMC official instructed the bench that the civic physique would set up short-term bogs inside 45 days and developing everlasting extra blocks would take greater than six months.
Terming this as ‘non cooperative angle,’ the HC positioned private duty on the BMC Commissioner to make sure building of short-term bogs.
It added that essential survey of building of a brand new floor plus one bathroom block with adequate bogs for women and men be expeditiously accomplished inside three months.
The bench mentioned it apprehended BMC’s angle of making a number of hurdles in complying with courtroom orders in future.
Posting additional listening to on November 14, in search of a progress report, it clarified that “standard causes like calling for tenders, code of conduct, sanctions from the higher-ups, and many others, mustn’t are available in the best way of finishing the development inside three months”.
