The Bombay High Court on Thursday said the massive fire that gutted the stage during the State government’s Make in India Week event at Girgaum Chowpatty on February 14, 2016, caused “considerable destruction and damage” to the beach.
The High Court asked the government to repair and restore the damaged portions of the beach within two months. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and P.N. Deshmukh passed the ruling on a public interest litigation (PIL) raising concerns of soil erosion caused at the beach due to erection of structures, functions and rallies held there.
The Bench said, “Beaches are an essential part of the environment. If beaches are polluted then it will violate the fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. It says that a person has the right to live in a pollution-free environment.”
The glitzy song-and-dance night on the sidelines of the Make in India Week turned into a disaster and the event had to be abandoned after the huge fire burned down the stage, the Bench noted. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, the entire Maharashtra Cabinet, and A-list Bollywood stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, and Aditya Roy Kapoor were present at the event. According to government officials, close to 20,000 people had gathered to watch the event.
‘Duty to protect beach’
To put out the fire, apart from the four fire tenders at the spot and 14 more were rushed to the Chowpatty, along with 10 water tankers and eight jumbo tankers.
The judges said, “The fire caused considerable destruction and damage to a portion of the beach.” The Bench added that the Girgaum Chowpatty is a major tourist attraction in the city and it is the duty of each and every citizen to protect it. “The beach cannot be damaged by holding functions and rallies,” the court said.
There are only a few open spaces left in the city where common people can breathe fresh air, it observed. The Bench said, “The beach also has national importance as it is said that Bal Gangadhar Tilak was cremated there. He made huge sacrifices for the cause of freedom. His statue stands tall on the beach which inspires the younger generation.”
The Bench said that it is all the more necessary that the sanctity of the beach is maintained by keeping it clean and free from pollution. It said, “The State government and the city collector shall ensure that the work of repair and restoration of north end of the beach [where the event was held] is carried out and completed within two months.”
The court noted that only three functions — Ganesh immersion, Ramleela and Krishna Leela — which are covered under guidelines set up by a monitoring committee, can be held at the beach and that too in the designated 300x150 square feet area.
The court also directed the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority to initiate action against any illegal construction on the coastal regulation zone area of the beach. The Bench has posted the petition for further hearing on August 1.
