Free Press Journal: Mumbai: Wednesday,
March 15, 2017.
The Bombay
High Court on Tuesday stayed the construction work of Mumbai Metro 7, being
carried out near Bandra Reclamation, for one week. The plot where the work was
initiated is allegedly allotted for a Sunni burial ground.
The direction
to stay the work was given by a division bench presided over by Chief Justice
Manjula Chellur and Justice Girish Kulkarni. The bench was hearing a Public
Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one Mohammed Furqan Ali Mohammed Qureshi.
In his
petition, Qureshi a resident of Bandra (West) has contended that the land in
question was earmarked for a cemetery for the Sunni community by the civic body
in its draft development plan. On the other hand, the civic body that owns the
land had passed the buck to the Maharashtra government making them responsible
to allot another piece of land for the cemetery.
According to
the petitioner, the civic body’s Preparatory Studies Report (PSR) prepared
under the chairmanship of civic chief Ajoy Mehta, had suggested to allot 1.6
hectares land in each ward for construction of burial grounds, cemeteries and
crematoriums.
On the
previous hearing, Chief Justice Chellur had specifically said in her order that
the civic body must not allot the said plot to any third party for any other
purpose.
When the
matter was called on for hearing on Tuesday, advocate Ashraf Shaikh, counsel
representing Qureshi, informed the bench that the government has breached the
orders. He furnished a copy of Right to Information (RTI) query and its reply
which he had received from the civic body. The copy stated that the government
by an order and notification has allotted nearly eight hectares of the total 47
hectares land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
After perusing
the documents, Chief Justice Chellur stayed the work of Metro 7 near Bandra
Reclamation till further hearing.
Meanwhile,
Chief Justice Chellur also directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) to file an affidavit spelling out the number of cemeteries, crematoriums
and burial grounds existing in the city. The bench has also sought details of
city’s total population with bifurcation of wards.
The matter
would be further heard on March 21.
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