The Bombay High Court has said that Mumbai’s chronic flooding caused by monsoon rains is a self-created crisis caused by citizens’ land grabbing, clogged drains and misuse of public infrastructure. The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Guge and Justice Gautam Anhad noted that the city is “destined” to see waterlogged roads because people are clogging gutters with garbage, converting paved areas into illegal parking spaces and filling footpaths with food stalls.
Expressing strong dissatisfaction, Acting Chief Justice Guge noted that even the footpaths near the High Court are occupied by illegal shops. “We have a habit of robbing our own homeland. We grab land illegally and then look for laws only when demolition notices come,” he said.
In a related civil case, the High Court issued a legal notice to the Ministry of Atomic Energy regarding the Mandala village road widening project on the Sion-Trombay section.
Representing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, senior advocate Milind Sathe told the court that the civic body has already removed encroachments and cut down 192 trees to maintain the existing 30-feet road.
The BMC said it is willing to expand the site to 50 feet if the DAE, which oversees the nearby Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, hands over the remaining 20 feet of encroachment-free land, hinting that BARC currently appears reluctant to act.
The High Court noted that the DAE needs to make a final decision on the transfer of land and has scheduled a follow-up hearing on the matter later this month.