Mumbai: The Bombay High Court directed the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation to eliminate the dumping site close to a residential area, but it has failed to follow the directive. Recognising that the dumping site adversely affects human health and that such sites should not be near residential areas, the High Court instructed the Kolhapur Municipality to relocate the waste disposal area.
In spite of the High Court's ruling, the Kolhapur Municipality has still not defined the buffer zone for the waste disposal site, and a petition was submitted to the High Court by Bhima Mahabharat Builders.
The request was considered by a panel consisting of Justice Girish Pulkarni and Justice Arif Doctor. Advocate Yuvraj Narvankar represented the petitioners. He informed the court that it has been two years since the order was given, yet the municipal administration has taken no action.
Advocate Narwankar presented a letter from the Pollution Control Board addressed to the Assistant Town Planning Director of Kolhapur Municipality, dated March 25, 2025. It was indicated that it was essential to keep a buffer zone surrounding solid waste processing facilities with a capacity exceeding five tons per day.
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Considering this, the bench directed the municipality to promptly act on the delineation of the buffer zone. Simultaneously, as stated in the correspondence from the MPCB, it instructed the municipality to create a scientifically-based 500-meter buffer zone and to develop the area within three months through tree planting.
