Mumbai: Cleaning coastline is not about beach cleaning, says Bombay HC – Times of India

MUMBAI: Cleaning the coastline is not about beach cleaning, said the Bombay High Court on Friday adding that it includes all measures to ensure that waste is not dumped into the sea.
“It is a larger issue,” a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni made the remarks after a cursory glance at notes submitted by advocate-general general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, with advocate Akshay Shinde, on Mumbai beach garbage waste.
Hearing a PIL and referring to the aftermath of cyclone Tauktae the HC wanted to know how State, Centre, and BMC will deal with the problem.
The judges said it is not beach cleaning but all measures to deal with the issue of dumping into the sea.
“From where all the material got into the sea. How it can be prevented. It goes deeper,” said Justice Kulkarni. The judges said in all coastal areas there are issues of slums and encroachments. They cited the example of the Mithi River in Mumbai. “Everything is dumped. What comes out is only a fraction. What must be in the belly of the ocean we don’t know,” said Justice Kulkarni, adding that “every year this is happening.”
The note said Mumbai has 7 beaches out of which 6 are cleaned manually and BMC has recently purchased cleaning machines that operate on the latest technology. The waste is segregated and sent to dumping grounds. In 2020-21 total of 62,793 metric tonnes were collected out of which 8409 mt was sent for recycling.
It also said BMC has installed eight primary sewage treatment plants where the sewage is treated before it is discharged into the sea.
“At these plants by way of filtration and other processes plastic and other solid waste is segregated and is thus prevented from polluting the sea,” it added.
In view of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) permitting the discharge of sewage into the sea only after its treatment, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has issued appropriate directions to BMC to install mechanical gates and screens to arrest garbage getting discharged into the sea.
Also, regarding slum-dwellers residing near a river, nullah, and creek dumping waste, there are bye-laws for preventing such pollution which penal action for breaches.