Mumbai air pollution: Can't ban firecrackers, 7 pm-10 pm time for bursting them on Diwali, says HC

Mumbai air pollution Citizens have to choose between a diseasefree environment and bursting firecrackers during Diwali the Bombay High Court observed on Monday while limiting fireworks between 7 pm and 10 pm for Mumbai residents during the festival of lights starting later this weekA division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice G S Kulkarni said while it was not going to order a ban on bursting of firecrackers a balance needs to be struck considering the deteriorating air quality index AQI in the metropolisWe have to make a choice Either we have a diseasefree environment or we burn firecrackers and celebrate the festival Citizens have to decide now the court saidWe are not banning it We are not experts to understand if firecrackers impact the environment and if they do then up to what extent We cannot straightaway say no bursting of firecrackers That is for the government to consider it saidThe court noted that banning would not be easy as people have different opinions on the issue and the right to practice ones religion is enshrined in the ConstitutionWe can however fix a time limit for bursting crackers The municipal corporation authorities shall ensure that bursting of firecrackers takes place only between 7 pm and 10 pm during Diwali the court orderedThe bench directed that all vehicles transporting construction material and debris to construction sites must be covered completely with tarpaulin till Friday November 10We will monitor the situation till Friday If the air quality continues to be poor then we will stop the plying of vehicles carrying construction material and debris the bench warnedThe HC initially said it would put a complete ban on movement of such vehicles till Friday November 10However Maharashtras Advocate General Birendra Saraf and senior counsel Milind Sathe appearing for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC opposed this and argued any such move would put a stop to the ongoing construction of all public projects such as the Coastal Road and the metro railThe bench then considered the request and said the plying of vehicles carrying construction material would be allowed but they would have to be completely covered with tarpaulinThis is a major concern for dust in the air Heavens are not going to fall if public projects like the Coastal Road are not done for a fortnight Nothing can be more cascading than public health the bench observedWe are living on Earth and we have created this situation ourselves We have not led our lives naturally We are dependent on nature but also not dependent Chief Justice Upadhyaya saidConsidering Mumbais deteriorating air quality the court had last week taken suo motu on its own cognisance and sought to know from all authorities concerned what measures they were taking to address the problemThe bench on Monday emphasised the need for every authority to come together and take steps to address the poor air quality in the city and said that on paper everything appears to be in place but the ground reality is differentThe court said it does not doubt the intentions of the authorities but appropriate action is not taken and implemented strictly on the groundTheoretically on paper everything appears to be in place but the ground reality shows that nothing has been done it remarkedThe bench noted that the particulate matter in the air presence of particles like dust dirt soot smoke and liquid droplets which are hazardous for health was so high that it was dangerous not just to human beings but to plants as wellIt appears that though various action plans and other guidelines have been proclaimed however on account of poor or inadequate implementation of these mechanisms the quality of air in Mumbai remains the same the court saidThe court in a slew of directions ordered the strict implementation of the Mumbai air pollution mitigation plan issued by the BMC in March 2023The assistant municipal commissioner of each ward shall be held responsible and liable if there is a lapse in the compliance of the action plan it saidThe bench further stated that all construction sites need to have a thin metal sheet around them and to suppress dust the developer must regularly sprinkle water around the sites and cover and clear debrisThe bench directed the authorities to ensure that there is no burning of waste in open spacesThe court has set up a twomember committee headed by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute NEERI and the director of the state health department to monitor the steps taken by civic corporationsThe court said it would hear the plea further on November 10This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever