Noise pollution row: Bombay HC condemns state govt's bias claims

The Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI) on Saturday condemned the Maharashtra Government for accusing Justice AS Oka of the Bombay High Court of being biased.

The judge had refused accepting the state government's stand that currently there were no silence zones in the state in light of the new amendment to the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.

The chief justice of the Bombay HC on Thursday withdrew a bunch of petitions concerning noise pollution from the bench headed by a senior judge of the court, who had taken a tough stand over the issue and transferred it a special bench.

The move came after the Maharashtra government levelled accusation of "serious bias" against Justice AS Oka.

The court had said on Wednesday that the earlier judgment passed in August 2016 would continue to operate until the state government files an application for review of that judgment and the same is finally decided.

Under this judgment, areas within 100 metre of hospitals, educational institutions and courts were declared as silence zones.

Reportedly, in 2015-16, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) got Rs 393.8 crore from the government but has spent only Rs 68.26 crore and in 2016-17 it had spent Rs 80 crores out of the Rs 350 crores received by the government.

Now in 2017-18, the department has set a budget of Rs 150 crore.

While the MPCB has funds at its disposal, Mumbai continues to face a number of pollution problems, including overflowing dumping grounds, increasing pollution in the air we breathe, rising noise levels and heavily polluted water along our coast.