Bombay HC Directs Removal Of Encroachments Around Kandivali Pond, Orders Clean-Up Before Next Hearing
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, July 21, 2026: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Mumbai Suburban Collector to remove encroachments around a natural pond at Charkop in Kandivali (West), observing that illegal structures and indiscriminate garbage dumping are the two main reasons for the pond's deteriorating condition and the damage being caused to nearby mangroves.
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A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing a petition filed by the BMC, which has sought permission to undertake conservation work at the pond, located within the 50-metre mangrove buffer zone. It sought permission to build a gabion wall to protect it.
BMC Outlines Conservation Plan
The BMC's advocate said the corporation was not carrying out large-scale beautification, but was constructing a pathway and undertaking plantation. "The amphitheatre proposed earlier has already been removed from the project as directed by this court," he said.
He further submitted that while the District Collector was the competent authority to remove encroachments, the BMC would extend full assistance and undertake an extensive drive to clear the accumulated garbage.
Court Expresses Concern
Recording the submissions, the bench observed that the pond was being choked because the surrounding area had been encroached upon and the encroachers were dumping garbage into it.
The court noted that once the encroachments were removed, the dumping of waste would stop and, after the garbage was cleared, saline water would naturally flow into the pond as it had before the encroachments.
During the last hearing too, the High Court had expressed concern over photographs showing construction debris dumped around the pond, terming it a "grim sight". The photographs showed washbasins and commodes littering the place.
On Tuesday, the court expressed "shock" after going through fresh photographs of the surroundings of the pond, noting that the situation had worsened since last week.
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Directing the BMC to place fresh photographs taken from the same angle on the next date, the bench said, "We would not tolerate any garbage in that pond."
The matter has been posted for further hearing on August 6.
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