On Tuesday, a Nagpur bench of the High Court of Bombay expressed concern about rapidly disappearing green cover & open spaces from urban India & the fact that cities were speedily becoming concrete Jungles.
A 2-member Bench comprising Justices Sunil Square & Anil Kilor said that with every passing year & every new census, data evidence showed more & more population living in urban areas as cities were becoming economic engines of the future.
“Population is so congested in the lanes & streets of colonies in cities that people hardly find a place to relax,” said the bench, perturbed by sharp decrease in green cover in cities.
The Judges observed that cities were fast becoming a concrete jungle as green areas have begun disappearing with astonishing rapidity & children hardly get opportunities to play out of their houses & experience the natural environment.
The bench expressed serious need for protecting parks & gardens as they were the lungs of the localities while deciding a PIL filed by Civic Action Guild Foundation, Nagpur.
In the public interest litigation, the non-profit organisation questioned legality of the tender issued by Nagpur municipal corporation in July this year for appointing a contractor to maintain a children’s park. It was particularly aggrieved by the clauses in the tender that allowed the contractor to commercialise the open space by setting up his own sports complex, swimming pool, restaurant, etc.
The High Court accepted the arguments advanced on behalf of the petitioner body that the development already carried out at the park was unauthorised & the civic body could not be allowed to further proceed with the tender. It also accepted that allowing commercialisation of the park, which is reserved in the sanctioned development plan as a garden, would amount to change in use.
“There is no doubt that if the park is used for commercial purposes, it may frustrate the purpose for which the said open space has been reserved in the final development plan,” said the bench & struck down the tender. It has also directed Nagpur municipal corporation to examine if the construction work done so far was in conformity with the development control regulations & the broader requirement of protecting open & green spaces.
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