Bombay HC orders panels for water plaints

PUNE: The Bombay high court has directed Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to constitute separate committees that will attend to complaints from housing society residents about water scarcity.

Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has been directed to address the water problems faced by the residents under its jurisdiction. The committee shall consist of the municipal commissioner, the divisional commissioner, the chief city engineer and secretary of the district legal services authority.

These directives were given by the acting chief justice S V Gangapurwala and justice Sandeep Marne on April 10 while hearing a PIL regarding water problems faced by the residents of urban areas in Pune district.

"The directions given in the said public interest litigation which are applicable to the Pune Municipal Corporation shall also be read as applicable to Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation," the order stated.

Eleven organisations, including NGOs, housing society federations and consumer bodies like Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat, had collectively filed the PIL canvassing the issue of water scarcity in areas such as Wagholi, Pimpri Chinchwad, Baner-Pashan link road, Bavdhan, Hinjewadi, Aundh and Ahmednagar Road, among others.

According to the order, the court in its 2017 order, had observed that formation of a committee was needed so that the aggrieved party can approach the committee. They can place their grievance before the committee "which can redress the grievance after taking note of the factual situation and hearing all the parties concerned".

The court also observed that it "would be advisable to have such committee sitting at least once in two months". Satya Muley, who represented the petitioners, said that in a similar PIL in 2016-17, the court had directed the PMC to form a special committee to attend to the complaints of the residents regarding water scarcity.

"The committee met only four times between 2017 and 2018, and very surprisingly, it was dissolved stating the reason that there was no water scarcity problem," Muley said. As per the petitioners, the PMC will have to reconstitute the committee while PCMC will have to form one for the first time.

Satya Muley
Satya is a leading Civil & Criminal Law lawyer from Western India.
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