We grab lands, block drains; waterlogging is our own creation: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday orally observed that Mumbai's annual monsoon flooding is as much the result of citizens' actions as shortcomings of civic authorities.

The Court observed that rampant land grabbing, blocked drains and encroachments on footpaths have contributed to the problem. The Court added that people should stop blaming the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) alone for the ensuing issues.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad made the remarks while hearing petitions raising grievances over the failure to remove encroachments for widening of a road in a Mumbai suburb.

During the hearing, Acting Chief Justice Ghuge remarked,

"One small spell of rain blocks the roads in Mumbai. It's our own creation. We should stop blaming the corporation."

The Court noted that citizens routinely occupy public land and then blame civic authorities for flooding.

"We are good at grabbing lands. We have an uncanny knack of grabbing land. We put all the dirt and material inside that. We blocked the gutters. Then we had pavement blocks. Then pavement blocks were inaugurated by people's representatives. Then they became parking lots," observed the Court.

Elaborating on how civic infrastructure had gradually been encroached upon, the Court observed that drainage lines had been covered, footpaths had been converted into parking spaces and occupied by street vendors. It said all of this makes it unfair to hold the municipal corporation solely responsible for flooding.

"Corporation gave us drainage lines. We freed up the drainage lines. We put pavement blocks. We started parking our cars on that. Corporation gave us footpaths. We started having pav bhaji, pav masala, sabudana vada and everything. Stalls on that," noted the Court.

Referring to the area behind the High Court building, Justice Ghuge said even the footpaths there had been taken over by xerox shops, tea stalls and other vendors.

"What will the corporation do? Our habit is to rob our own motherland," he added.

The Court also criticised those who seek legal protection only after encroaching on public land.

"When the corporation comes for demolition, you say give me seven days notice. Then suddenly the law books are opened. Then you start reading the law. When you grab the land, nobody reads the law," he said.

The Court held that unless the culture of illegal encroachments changed, Mumbai would continue to witness waterlogging during the monsoon.

"So that is how things are in Mumbai. We are destined to see rainwater on the road," he observed.

The observations came after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed the Court that it had already removed encroachments for the existing 30-foot-wide road, a process that also involved felling nearly 192 trees. However, the BMC said the remaining land required to widen the road to 50 feet belongs to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), which functions under the Union Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

The BMC submitted that if BARC wanted a 50-foot-wide road, it should provide the encroachment-free land required between the existing 30-foot alignment and the proposed 50-foot width.

Taking note of the submissions, the Court observed that the DAE should take a decision on whether it was willing to part with the additional land required for the road widening.

The matter has been posted for further hearing in the last week of July.

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