Thane: In a major legal move against administrative negligence, environmental activist Rohit Manohar Joshi—the primary petitioner in Public Interest Litigation No. 96/2024—has served a contempt notice to state authorities and civic bodies through his legal counsel, Adv. Ronita Bhattacharya Bector. The notice addresses the Thane, Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, and Kalyan-Dombivli municipal corporations, along with the Environment Department and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), for openly flouting Bombay High Court orders regarding idol immersions.
HC Directives Mandate Artificial Ponds For Smaller PoP Idols
The High Court's binding directives explicitly mandate that all Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols measuring up to 6 feet must be immersed exclusively in artificial ponds. Furthermore, while conditional permission was granted for idols larger than 6 feet in natural water bodies, the state government had assured the court that all debris and remnants would be cleared within 24 hours. Ground reality, however, reveals a complete violation. Thousands of small, household PoP idols were directly dumped into the natural bed of Thane Creek in the direct presence of municipal and police officials.
Debris from idols immersed on September 15 was found floating in water and trapped in mudflats 48 to 72 hours later, posing a severe ecological threat to Thane Creek's internationally recognized Ramsar site, its rich biodiversity, and migratory flamingo habitats.
The contempt notice demands that administration officials immediately retrieve all remnants from the creek within 24 hours, halt any further immersion of sub-6-foot idols into natural waters, and penalize responsible officers. The notice explicitly warns that failure to comply will result in a formal contempt petition filed directly in the Bombay High Court against the negligent administration.
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