SC halts laying of concrete blocks in Matheran's Ecologically Sensitive Area

The Supreme Court has issued a stay on the laying of concrete paver blocks in the Matheran Ecologically Sensitive Area ESZ till further ordersThe direction was given by the bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath on Friday on the application by three representative associations of the horsemen Ghodawala Sangathans in MatheranThe Bench directed the Monitoring Committee to submit a detailed report on the erickshaws pilot project and the laying of paver blocks before it within a period of eight weeks The Court said We further direct that until further orders no further paver blocks be laid on the roads in the city of MatheranThe court posthearing said that it would be appropriate that the Monitoring Committee takes a call with regard to permitting the ERickshaws alongside the laying down of paver blocksPrima facie we find that laying down paver blocks would destroy the natural beauty of the city It cannot be disputed that even prior to the laying down of paver blocks the manpulled rickshaws were plying on the roads Court saidIt further stated If that is so there should be no difficulty in the ERickshaws plying on the same roads which are in existence for ages Even in the reserved forests there are no concrete roads and the safari vehicles are plying on the jungle roads The same can also be considered for the city of MatheranThis in our view would balance the concern of both sides We therefore direct the Monitoring Committee to take a call on the aforesaid two issues and submit its report within a period of eight weeks from today the apex court addedThe court was hearing applications with regards to seeking a modification of the Order dated May 12 last year passed on an application by a Shramik Rickshaw ChalakMalak Sevasanstha the representative body of hand rickshaw pullers vide which the Court permitted the implementation of a pilot project for the trial of erickshaws in Matheran pilot projectAlso ReadEssence of justice lies in speedy resolution of disputes Justice Hima KohliSenior Advocate Shyam Divan appearing on behalf of the Applicants submitted that the direction by the Court to allow the plying of erickshaws in Matheran fails to take into account the historical perspective and the unique place that the city occupies It was argued during the hearing that as the only pedestrian hill station in Asia the absence of any motor vehicles and the use of horses toy trains etc to commute and reach various sightseeing locations spread across the hill stations has been the essence of the charm of the hill town and this Court ought to protect the said ethosDivan during the hearing further argued that such heritage ideation needs to be kept alive and that it was this innate ethos of Matheran that is at the risk of being lost by the introduction of the erickshaws whereby the introduction of the cheaper mode of transportation will result in the peace of the hill town being disrupted by the constant rumble of the motorized vehicles Stating that the pilot project is essentially resulting in the creeping motorization of MatheranOwing to the argument in the case further Divan said in order to facilitate the plying of erickshaws in the Matheran ESZ the Municipal authorities have taken steps to pave the roads with paver blocks thereby making extensive and permanent changes to the ecology of the Matheran ESZFlagging the concern over the ecology and environment of the Matheran Divan argued that such widespread construction activities in the Ecologically Sensitive Area of Matheran under the garb of the pilot project the appropriate authorities particularly the State of Maharashtra and the Matheran Municipal Council have rendered nugatory and set to nought all the steps taken over the years to protect its ecologyAmicus Curiae in the case K Parameshwar submitted that on account of the restrictions of permitting any vehicles within the city of Matheran a lot of inconveniences are caused to the citizens He submitted that the children in the city find it difficult to attend schools and solid waste is required to be properly managed on the head of the inhabitants which is causing serious health hazards adding that LPG cylinders could not be distributed to the residents etcHe further submitted that the inhuman practice of manpulled rickshaws is still prevalent which is in derogation of the Right to Life as enshrined under the Constitution of IndiaAdvocate Nina Nariman also appeared for Ghodawala Sangathans alongside the Senior Advocate Shyam Divan and was briefed by a team from Karanjawala amp Coled by Tahira Karanjawala Principal Associate along with Arjun Sharma Principal Associate Shreyas Maheshwari and Ritwik Mohapatra AssociatesWhereas the State of Maharashtra was represented by Siddharth Dharmadhikari Chief Standing Counsel Advocate K Parmeshwar appeared as the Amicus Curiae in the matterThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability 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