The High Court of Bombay had put a stay on construction of new buildings for residential or commercial use, including malls, hotels and restaurants until the civic authorities comply with Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 and come up with additional landfill facilities, since the dumping grounds at Deonar and Mulund in Mumbai had exceeded their limits for dumping construction debris and solid waste. This was popularly known as the “Dumping Ground Judgement”.
The developers then moved to the Supreme Court to file a petition against the order due to the affected supply and monetary loss being incurred by them. The SC by its order dated March 15, 2018 lifted the ban on construction of new buildings in Mumbai but made it very clear that the prohibition on construction has been lifted only in order to explore the possibility of safe methods of permitting certain constructions in the Mumbai for a limited period and to pave the way for further orders that may be passed. The order, also clarifies that no construction debris will be disposed at Deonar or Mulund dumping sites.
The court has also asked a monitoring committee to be formed to inspect the grant of IODs (Intimation of Disapproval) which will visit disposal sites and bring any breach to the notice of the civic authorities. Apart from this, the builders will be permitted to start construction after giving an undertaking of disposal of debris as part of IOD while submitting a bank guarantee of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for a guarantee of disposal of waste.
This order is also seen as a welcome retreat for real estate developers in Mumbai. It has brought about a huge sigh of relief amongst them and is looked upon as the dawn of revival of the real estate sector in Mumbai.
Courtesy/By: Simren Mehra
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29 Mar 2018
