Bombay High Court slams BMC over garbage, orders SOP enforcement

The Bombay High Court on Thursday made sharp remarks against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over garbage strewn across roads in Mumbai city and its suburbs. The court said the entire city was surrounded by filth and foul-smelling garbage at several spots, and warned that if the situation did not improve, action would be taken against officials linked to solid waste management, including assistant commissioners of every ward office.

A bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale said the city's garbage problem was a serious and deeply distressing issue. The bench observed that ordinary citizens too did not want to keep the areas around them clean. Referring to areas such as Fort, Dadar, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Oshiwara and Lokhandwala, the court said garbage heaps were always visible there, yet the concerned divisional officers took no action. The court said these officers would now be held accountable and action against them was necessary. The bench said in clear terms, "Enough is enough. The Corporation cannot keep giving false assurances." The court also said that Corporation officials kept offering only assurances in court.

The petitioners told the court that foul smell had started spreading again from the dumping ground since Monday. It was stated that a complaint about this was made at 1:30 am, but a response came only at 5:30 am. Expressing displeasure over this delay, the court asked why complaints were not being resolved on time after being received.

The bench said action would have to be taken against Corporation officials and that a fixed SOP, or standard operating procedure, was necessary to control the garbage problem. The court acknowledged that the Municipal Commissioner and senior officials had taken some steps, but said ground-level conditions had not improved much and ward officers were not performing their duties. The court asked for dry, wet, sanitary and medical waste to be segregated and disposed of separately.

Citing the Singapore model, the court said Mumbai was covered in filth on all sides and asked how it could then be called an international city. The bench noted that in Singapore, a fine of between 2,000 and 10,000 dollars is imposed for throwing garbage on roads or public places. The court suggested to the state government that it should consider imposing heavy fines and filing criminal cases against those who throw garbage on public roads in Mumbai as well. The court also referred to a suggestion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and advised the Corporation to seek the help of social media influencers to spread the message of cleanliness.