Bombay High Court. (Source: File Photo)The Bombay High Court Wednesday said there was complete inaction and total lethargy in the functioning of the district Disaster Management Authority (DMA) for Mumbai and Suburban, instituted by the state government.
An order was passed on January 19, 2018, by the High Court, directing the state government to constitute a district DMA for Mumbai and Suburban as expeditiously as possible, before January 31, 2018, to discharge their duty under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Despite several opportunities, the court noticed that there was no compliance of the directions by the state government.
Later, the state government set up two district DMAs for Mumbai and Suburban. In the June, 2018, during one of the hearings, the state government informed the court that the state DMA had conducted a meeting. The court had sought to know the minutes of the meeting. A division bench of Justice A S Oka and Justice M S Sonak said, “Holding such a meeting is nothing but a farce.”
An affidavit was filed by Shrirang Gholap, secretary, relief and rehabilitation department, stating that the last meeting of the state DMA was held on May 29, 2018 and thereafter no further meetings have been held. On this, the court said, “This is, to say the least, quite distressing.”
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The bench further said: “There are serious issues like flooding of urban areas and drought in rural areas facing the state. The DMA has been enacted to provide for requisite institutional mechanism for drawing up and monitoring the implementation of the disaster management plans, ensuring for preventive and mitigating effects of disaster and for undertaking a holistic, coordinated and prompt response to any disaster situation.”
The bench further said that for a number of years, the authorities, as contemplated under the DMA, were not even constituted by the state government and when the authorities were instituted, there was “complete inaction and total lethargy when it comes to the functioning of such authority”. The court also said that the functioning of the DMA for District of Mumbai and Suburban is even “worse”.
The bench held that prima facie “district level disaster management authorities for Mumbai and Mumbai Suburban District have not held even a single meeting”. The court said: “…it cannot be the case of the state that the issues of severe water scarcity and other mandate or natural disaster are not plaguing the state”. The court also said that state DMA was not functioning with the seriousness which was expected of it.
The court passed an order, directing the chief secretary of state to ensure that the direction passed on January 19, 2018 were complied with and file a report on January 31, 2019. The court further said that it was a fit case to issue contempt but they are refraining from it. “If the orders are not complied, action will have to be initiated for aggravated contempt,” the court said.
