Private agency will clean seafront: BMC to Bombay high court

South Mumbai’s beachfront is set to get clean with the civic body informing the Bombay high court on Thursday that it has appointed a private agency to clean the entire stretch from Nariman Point to Haji Ali.

The division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice SJ Kathawalla was hearing a public interest litigation filed in 2008 by the Maha Goolestan Cooperative Housing Society, Mahalaxmi.

The PIL stated that the beach zone between Mahalaxmi and Warden Road and the sea belt, particularly around Mahalaxmi temple, “has virtually turned into a dumping ground”.

BMC lawyer Priti Purandare submitted that, following the court’s direction on September 23, a meeting was held by deputy municipal commissioner (Zone I) in first week of November.

She said the agency will take 22 days to complete the cleaning and the cycle will continue. The judges directed BMC to file an affidavit in four weeks.

The PIL stated that authorities like BMC, the police and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board should be directed to take steps to maintain cleanliness of the seafront. The police and BMC should prosecute people who flout the law and throw garbage in and around the sea.

In June, the Bombay high court made Mahalaxmi Temple Trust a party to the PIL. The trust’s counsel told the court that they have put notices in temple directing the devotees to maintain cleanliness in and around the temple, as well as the seafront.