Bombay high court orders compensation after untreated waste from highrise affects Badlapur agriculturist | Mumbai News

Mumbai: A 60-year-old agriculturist’s plea seeking compensation for discharge of untreated waste from a highrise in Badlapur has prompted the Bombay High Court to comment on the haphazard development happening in the new urban areas minus any infrastructure.The HC ordered a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to be paid by the developer and also directed the setting up of an “Improvement Committee for Kulgaon-Badlapur Municipal Area” to ensure guidance for appropriate urban development. Yashwant Bhoir, who owned an agricultural plot had moved the high court against untreated waste from Skyline Building developed by A Plus Lifespace that has 440 occupants. The Kulgaon-Badlapur Municipal Council has a population of around 5 lakh people.The HC based on two reports by an expert committee and the district collector said, “It is, thus, an onerous responsibility on the part of the Town Planning Authority/Directorate of Town Planning as also the KBMC to adopt robust town planning measures so that an ideally planned city is created and not an urban chaos resulting in a haphazard concrete jungle.” The HC also noted about the discharge of the untreated waste in the council area to Ulhas river.The HC, referring to the reports said, “Currently majority of the residences in Badlapur lack access to a “centralized sewage system”, as a result of which, it is stated that improper waste disposal is rampant inter alia leading to the contamination of water bodies, soil pollution, and increased disease transmission. It also records that inadequate sewage infrastructure has also produced offensive odours, contributed to pest infestations, which have diminished the urban aesthetic. It also observes that the discharge of sewage into the Ulhas River presents considerable risks and impact on the aquatic ecosystem and the broader environment. The report also highlights the health implications, environmental impact, problems faced by residents, farmers and farmhouses.The agricultural lands are converted into non-agricultural lands (NA) by the collector, who exercises these powers under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code. “It is in NA lands, development permissions are being granted by the KBMC and that too to high rise buildings/ skyscrapers. In a particular area, NA lands are being utilized for construction of high rise buildings, whereas those lands which are not converted as NA lands continue to be utilized as agricultural lands which get adversely affected by the surrounding developments as in the present case. This is quite haphazard. There cannot be a layout which has partially NA lands with high-rise buildings and adjoining agricultural lands. Such scattered and disorganized development is antithetical to a systematic town planning.The collector who is the originator of such indiscriminate classification of the uses of land by granting a change of user needs to take decisions on a scientific and well considered norms and for reasons to be recorded in writing and only after consultation with the different stakeholders like the owners of land in the same area, expert opinions from the architects, environment authorities and the director of Town Planning, the HC said.The HC also questioned the occupation certificate, which has been granted to the building without providing for the basic requirements of linking the sewer outlet of the building into a sewer line, and merely providing a small septic tank for such a large complex.