HC asks Environment Ministry to save Mumbai's rock structure

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Ministry of Environment and Forest to constitute a team of experts to assist in checking the damage caused to the geological marvel Gilbert Hill in suburban Mumbai.

The direction was given by a division Bench of Acting Chief Justice JN Patel and Justice VC Daga, while hearing a PIL filed by local businessman Ehsanul Nadvi.

Nadvi has alleged that those, who constructed buildings under the state government's Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme in the vicinity of the rock structure, had cut a portion and damaged the monument.

The team will have to submit a report in two weeks stating the extent of damage and steps to check it.

The judges have held that the builders responsible for damage to the structure will have to pay for it at the time of disposal of the PIL.

Petitioner's counsel, Akhilesh Upadhyay told the court on Wednesday that even after the HC granted an interim stay on construction within 100-meter radius of the hill in April 2005, 27 buildings were constructed after that and five out of them were SRA buildings.

However, Sanjay Jain, counsel for Harsh builders, who have structures in the vicinity of the Hill, told the court that they had sought the sanction of planning authorities and considered the geo-technical reports before erecting buildings in the area.