HC takes cognisance of TOI report on dead fishes

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has taken cognisance of TOI’s report on scores of dead fishes in Ambazari Lake and treated the issue as a public interest litigation (PIL).
A division bench comprising justices Ravi Deshpande and Shreeram Modak also issued notices to the State Urban Development Department (UDD) and other respondents directing them to file a reply by May 2. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) are the other respondents.

Though the judges asked government pleader Sumant Deopujari to file a reply, they are yet to appoint an amicus curiae to plead the case. TOI’s report titled ‘Untreated sewage, waste flows into lake’, published on April 13, was treated as a PIL. “The problem of water pollution arising out of disposal of untreated sewage and industrial waste in Ambazari lake is the issue. Such disposal is destroying the existing flora and fauna,” the judges said.

TOI has been tracking this issue since 2014. It reported that most of the times, the fishes die in summer, but the deaths were also reported in winter. The corporation allows MIDC Hingna, CRPF colony and the Ambazari pool to use the lake water for drinking and non-drinking purposes.