Mumbai: Mahul tenements for Covid-19 quarantine only with HC nod

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed that the Maharashtra government and the BMC shall not set up Covid-19 quarantine facility in Mahul without its permission.
The order by a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Amjad Sayed came after the BMC told the court it would use Mahul only as a last resort if does not have not other option in future.
The bench, via videoconference, heard a public interest litigation by Sharda Tevar, mother of an undertrial and NGO Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan. Tevar's son is lodged at the Arthur Road jail since November 2019 and his trial is yet to commence. The petition said Mahul is a heavily polluted area and home to nine major industriaL units units including refineries like HPCL, BPCL, RCF, BARC as well as private industrial units.
The reply, by the M/west ward, assistant municipal commissioner Prithviraj Chauhan, said at Eversmile Complex in Mahul out of 42 partially occupied buildings taken over by BMC for slum rehabilitation and project affected person, some five buildings are vacant.
As per data available with M/west ward office positive cases are likely to go up to 2946 till May 30. Out of these, 70% are likely to be from the densely populated areas and particularly the slums. "Therefore, assuming 10 contacts per positive patient, the corporation is required to make arrangement for an estimate of around 20,000 persons in M/west ward," the reply stated, adding that there is extreme shortage of vacant tenements that can be used/requisitioned for quarantine facilities
The affidavit cited efforts to identify and start quarantine facility for positive symptomatic patients in M/ west ward and informed that BMC has identified 3 buildings in Eversmile Complex which are entirely vacant and would facilitate the accommodation of 1100 high risk and low risk contacts for quarantine purposes.
"The proposed facility at Mahul would be utilized only as a last resort in the event that the number of cases rises and the number of high and low risk contacts persons that require to be quarantined cannot be kept on the other quarantine facilities made available in the vicinity," said the reply, clarifying that Mahul would be used "only as a temporary quarantine facility in the exceptional circumstances" of the COVID 10 pandemic. It also mentioned that industries in the vicinity that had an impact on air quality are working with limited staff and maintaining social distancing.
Senior advocate Anil Sakhare, for BMC, submitted that in future only if there is no other alternative Mahul will be considered. But the judges, in their order, said before the State government or BMC takes a decision to shift people to Mahul, they will require to take the court's permission and will have also submit all relevant data. They allowed petitioner's advocate Ronita Bector liberty to filed a rejoinder to BMC's reply.