Mumbai: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has pulled up the government’s advocate for failing to appear in a suo motu case concerning the illegal dumping of debris on mangrove and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) land near Shiv Galli in Versova village.
In its order, the Commission observed that it “cannot keep waiting for the government’s advocate to appear”, especially when litigants from remote areas such as Pandharkawda in Vidarbha travel long distances to attend hearings.
“We waited for the Government Advocate till 1:20 p.m., and even now we are being told that the Government Advocate is coming in two minutes. We don’t know the length of this ‘two minutes’ time. When we were dictating the present order, the learned Government Advocate appeared, but we are unable to hear the matter now as the litigants coming from the remote village of Pandharkawda Tahsil are waiting for their turn,” reads the order passed by Justice A. M. Badar, Chairperson of the Commission.
The Commission had taken suo motu cognizance of a news report published in a newspaper alleging that authorities were turning a blind eye to the illegal dumping of debris on mangrove and CRZ land near Shiv Galli in Versova. According to the report, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officer who was cracking down on illegal constructions in the village was allegedly transferred.
The news report further stated that, “A board had been put up near the mangrove patch by the Mangrove Cell of the Maharashtra Forest Department, mentioning that the area is a notified reserved forest and that grazing, hunting, tree cutting, farming, encroachment, and dumping of garbage or debris are prohibited. However, heaps of debris could be seen in and around the area where the board was set up. Also, around 300–400 metres from the board, storage units for construction material had come up close to CRZ areas.”
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