Study carried out by a team from KEM Hospital, in 2005, concluded that 55 per cent of the residents living near the units, many of which are located in muti-storeyed buildings, suffered from asthma, bronchitis, and restrictive lung disease.
The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to inform whether it is going to take a policy decision to relocate the illegal jewellery-making factories out of Bhuleshwar area, in South Mumbai. The court has given two weeks to the state government.
A division bench comprising Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla, while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Bhuleshwar Residents Association also asked the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), to submit inspection reports carried out by it, and what action is has taken or proposes to take under various laws, against the illegal units.
As per the petition filed in 2002, the association seeks directions to shut down factories/bhatties in the areas of Bhuleshwar, Zaveri Bazar and Kalbadevi areas in C-ward of the corporation. The plea states that after writing several letters to the concerned authorities -- MPCB, BMC and Police, around 3,500 units continue to operate in areas earmarked as residential zone.
The plea also makes of mention of a major fire having broken out in the year in 2001, due to blast of an LPG cylinder in a congested locality of the area, killing around 24 people, including minor children. Advocate Harinder Toor appearing for the association said, “The illegal units pose a big danger to the residents and even those working inside them. Immediate action needs to be taken against the units to prevent a major untoward incident.”
A MPCB report prepared in 2016 pointed to toxic fumes generated by the melting, polishing and refining of gold and silver which causes grave environmental dangers for the thickly populated areas. Another study carried out by a team from KEM Hospital, in 2005, concluded that 55 per cent of the residents living near the units, many of which are located in muti-storeyed buildings, suffered from asthma, bronchitis, and restrictive lung disease.
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