‘Not difficult to emulate Indore’: HC asks BMC Chief to fix ward officers’ accountability over garbage on Mumbai streets

The court also said these issues were “intricately connected” with the matter being heard by it over the “larger issues” of handling of waste at the Kanjurmarg landfill in eastern Mumbai, nuisance of odour and emission of dangerous gases from the site. It said the segregation of waste at source was required to ease problems at the dumping site.

A bench of Girish S Kulkarni and Aarti A Sathe also said that precautions be taken by authorities and contractors to avoid incidents at Mumbai waste management facilities similar to the collapse of the waste-to-energy plant building inside the Moshi garbage depot in Pune, leading to the death of nine contractual employees.

Senior advocate Anil Sakhare, for the BMC, submitted its affidavit stating that the civic body intended strict implementation of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Cleanliness and Sanitation by-laws for BMC, 2025, across the city. The bench said BMC ward officers were required to address issues related to waste collection from housing complexes, public places, and other sources generating solid waste, and that the BMC Commissioner should issue strict orders fixing accountability and ensure ward-wise reports are displayed on the BMC website.

“It cannot be that any citizen who is a resident of Mumbai is free to throw waste materials, garbage, and increase filth on public streets and/or public places,” the HC noted and sought preventive steps at “ground level” for “effective handling” of solid waste.

The court said strict measures be also taken in notified slum areas and BMC officers “cannot shirk responsibility to maintain hygiene” merely because they come under the purview of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Seeking removal of garbage heaps on streets, Justice Kulkarni orally remarked it causes “chaos in the rainy season”, with garbage choking storm water drains, leading to water-logging. The court also said penalties prescribed in the by-laws should be strictly enforced on a daily basis using CCTV cameras to identify errant persons and that the obligation to appoint agencies to sensitise citizens is “certainly not being implemented”.

“Everyone is spitting all over the city and it has become a ‘national hobby’. Rs. 250 penalty has to be made Rs. 2,500. It is very less,” Justice Sathe orally remarked. The court observed that “endeavour of municipal corporations across the country is to maintain hygiene” and noted that Indore is rated as the cleanest city. “It is not difficult for the BMC to achieve such a position with its huge resources, provided there is a will to achieve and implement the Solid Waste Management by-laws as framed strictly,” it noted. The judges added that Indore achieved the status due to “sensible ward officers’ machinery” and that the BMC needs to sensitise such officers or else issues related to garbage, open manholes, and falling trees causing a threat to human lives will “unfortunately” remain pending before the court for years.

The court noted the BMC, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), and the site contractor took steps to “substantially reduce” the odour and sought continued action. Seeking an action plan from the BMC Commissioner, the HC posted the matter after four weeks.