The Bombay High Court today issued notices to the City and Industrial Development Corporation and civic authorities in Navi Mumbai in response to a public interest litigation alleging that the CIDCO was dumping construction debris in a wetland area.
A bench of Justices A S Oka and R I Chagla directed the Collector’s office to send an official to the site for inspection.
The CIDCO, the planning body for Navi Mumbai, and civic authorities shall stop till further orders all work in the area that is affecting the wetland, the court said.
The bench was hearing a PIL filed by NGO ‘Abhivyakti’.
The construction debris and garbage are being dumped in an area of six hectares in sectors 18 and 19 in Kharghar which contains a pond and a wetland, the PIL alleged.
It was being done “at the instance of CIDCO” which is carrying out reclamation in the area since April, it said.
Advocate Subhash Jha, the petitioner’s lawyer, said several local residents had approached police and the Wetlands Committee set up by another bench of the high court in the past over the issue.
The committee held that dumping of debris was illegal and asked the CIDCO to stop it immediately, but the CIDCO is yet to implement the directive, Jha said.
The bench will hear the matter further next month.
