HC asks BMC to file weekly report on Mithi cleaning status

Mumbai, Apr 26 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to file an action taken report (ATR) every week next month furnishing details of the progress in cleaning, desilting and widening of the Mithi river.

The High Court directed the BMC to file ATRs on May 11, 22 and 30, in response to a PIL filed by politician and social activist Kirit Somaiya for protection and reinvention of the river.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kshitij Vyas and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud deferred the hearing on the matter to May 4 and directed the State to submit an affidavit regarding the commercial encroachments on the river, of which 269 are eligible for alternate allocation.

Petitioner's lawyer Janak Dwarkadas contended before the court that the BMC had failed to clean the garbage dumped along Mithi river on a regular basis.

BMC counsel S Singhvi submitted to the court that 3,204 residential shanties encroaching the river had been removed while 400 were yet to be taken-off. As long as the encroachments are not taken care of, cleaning the garbage on a regular basis is difficult for the BMC to keep up with, he said.

Incidentally, the court had earlier directed the ward officers to visit the dumping sites with the petitioner, the reports of which have still not been filed, Mr Somaiya's counsel said.

According to the affidavit submitted by the Mithi River Development Project Authority to the court on March one, the phase-I of the project was in progress and cleaning, widening and desilting of the river would be completed by May 31.

UNI XR-ARM GK YA HT2015