HC rues people's 'litter here, cleanliness abroad' act; asks if we are living in civilised society

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday expressed strong disapproval over people littering when in India but adhering to the rules when abroad and throwing garbage only in designated places, and questioned if this was the price one pays for liberty and democracy.

A bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe called for sensitisation of citizens as well as municipal officers to ensure there is no garbage lying on public streets and spaces.

"If a person wants a clean environment, then he or she has a corresponding fundamental duty towards the society to maintain cleanliness. We want the civic officials to be ruthless in taking action," HC said.


The court was hearing a bunch of petitions raising concerns over pollution, persistent foul odour, gas emissions and health risks for residents in the vicinity of Kanjurmarg dumping ground in the eastern part of the metropolis.

"We have to sensitize our citizens. Here, a person will throw garbage on the road without batting an eyelid but these same people when abroad will strictly avoid such behaviour. Even a small chocolate wrapper they will throw in the dustbin," the HC said.

Is this the price of liberty and democracy, the court questioned.

Referring to large amounts of plastic waste lying in public places, the court said even beaches in the city are flooded with plastic and questioned if "we are living in a civilised society".

The court noted that the city is facing tremendous hazards on a day-to-day basis from garbage being dumped on the main roads and bylanes, and the serious health and hygiene issues arising from these.

Referring to the the 'Swachch Mumbi, Sundar Mumbai, Aapli Mumbai, Sundar Mumbai' logo of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the High Court said the intention is clear but the same is being collectively defeated by citizens and by the inaction on the part of the civic machinery.

"It is in these circumstances the role of MCGM's cleanliness machinery wardwise becomes significant, to take all effective steps so that public streets are not used by the citizens as dumping places," HC said.

If effective measures in this regard are not being taken, it would defeat such noble intentions of the MCGM as reflected in the logo, HC added.

It urged the municipal machinery to strictly implement all the rules to bring about an improvement.

The bench also raised concerns over the handling of garbage by municipal trucks close to heritage sites in the city like the Rajabai Tower, the HC building and so on.

The court said a large number of tourists, including foreigners, who visit these sites see garbage lying on the roads due to mishandling of waste by the civic body's garbage collection trucks.

The court asked the civic body to take appropriate action on this within a week failing which the court would be constrained to pass orders.