Revenue is not above health & environment: Bombay HC

MUMBAI: Revenue is not more important than environment and health. That was the un derlying message delivered by Justice VM Kanade of the Bombay high court while hearing a PIL against pollution caused by mountains of imported coal on Mumbai Port Trust land along the city's eastern seafront. The PIL was filed by Vice Admiral (retd) IC Rao and banker Meera Sanyal against the port trust for its environ mentally unfriendly handling of coal and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for continually renewing the port trust's `consent to operate' for coal, despite violations of the conditions.
Over the last six months TOI has campaigned against the port trust's handling of coal, which has devastated the environment around it. Resi dents living in the area suffer from respiratory diseases, stu dents of a nearby maritime college have coal dust in their lungs and fisherfolk are dredg ing dead fish and crabs.
The petitioners pointed to alternative ports for coal handling, such as Dharamtar and Dahej. The court has asked the port trust to explore transferring coal to these sites. The petitioners also pointed to the rudimentary , unscientific manner in which coal was handled, using dumpers and trucks. The pollution control board said in court that it had laid down environmental guidelines for the port trust to follow. These include a shed for storing coal and mechanization of the coalhandling process. The court asked the port trust to examine how soon it could comply with these guidelines.
The port trust said in court that it no longer wanted to handle coal. The port had issued a public notice in September, announcing that vessels carrying coal would not be allowed after September 24 and the ar ea would be cleared of coal by October 30. The petitioners pointed out that coal dumps have remained in the area. The port trust says it has asked its contractors to clear the area.The court has asked the port trust for a finite time frame for clearing the area of coal.