HC warns Thane civic body against violating waste mgmt rules

The Bombay High Court today cautioned the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) against violating the Centre's solid waste management rules.
It said if the TMC failed to comply with the rules and its previous orders on the issue, it would not hesitate in passing an order prohibiting any new construction in Thane.
A bench, headed by Justice A S Oka, reminded the civic body that in March 2016, the court had passed such an order for the city of Mumbai.
At that time, the court had banned all new constructions in the city until the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) resolved the problem of rampant dumping of solid waste and construction debris at landfill sites.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by some residents of Thane raising objection to dumping of waste by the municipal corporation in non-designated areas, especially in the coastal zones, and mangrove-rich sites near Davale village in Thane, adjoining Mumbai.
The petition was filed through their advocate Sandesh Patil.

Patil informed the court that there had been no compliance with the new solid waste management rules which were brought into effect in 2016 by the Union government.
"Due to non-compliance, we had banned construction in Mumbai. It seems we might have to adopt the same stand (for Thane)," said Justice Oka.

The TMC, meanwhile, said it was yet to find suitable and adequate land to set up a waste processing plant.
The court, however, said if the civic body required more time to find land to set up the plant, it should file an application.
"But it has to be done soon. You can't keep dumping in the mangrove area," the court said.