SC raps Maha govt over preserving Mumbai's green lungs

The few remaining green lungs in cities like Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, which are only witnessing a vertical growth, need to be preserved, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

The observations were made by a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Manoj Misra during the hearing of an appeal filed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation, Navi Mumbai against a Bombay high court verdict.

The high court had quashed the Maharashtra government's 2021 decision to relinquish a 20-acre land in Navi Mumbai for a "Government Sports Complex" and shifting it to a remote place at Mangaon in Raigad district, 115 km from the existing site.

The land was earmarked for the sports complex in 2003 and in 2016, the planning authority allotted a portion of it to a private developer for residential and commercial purposes.

"It is a much-known practice. The government creeps into whatever green spaces are left and give them to the builders," the top court said during a brief hearing.

"There are a very few green lungs left in cities like Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. These cities have vertical growth.... You have to preserve them and not give to builders to build, build, build and build...," the CJI said.

The bench was prima facie astonished to know that the land, meant for the state-level sports complex, is being given for some development and the proposed facilities are to be shifted to Raigad district.

Who will travel 115 km to avail the facilities of the sports complex, the court wondered and said even that land will meet the same fate after a few years.

In a lighter vein, the bench asked how gold medallists will emerge in such a scenario.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing in the court on behalf of CIDCO, assailed the high court order, saying it wants to run town-planning activities, which fall under the state's domain.

Twenty acres are not sufficient for constructing the sports complex and moreover, the state has earmarked the land at an alternative site, the top law officer said.

He said the matter does not pertain to green lungs of cities and it is rather town-planning activities that the high court decided.

The bench has now fixed the plea for further hearing on September 30.

The high court had, while setting aside the state government's decision on July 2, made some sharp comments on the case.

Sports play a significant role in the development of people and a nation and it is high time the government gave it equal importance than the "commercialisation and concretisation mantra", it had said.

A progressive state can never be oblivious to such needs of the society, it had said, adding that authorities are required to be alive to not only the present but the future rights of citizens to open places, playgrounds and sports complexes.

The court had said the sports complex is of paramount importance to children and youngsters, who form a large mass of population in urban areas, and it is wholly against the public interest to deprive them of best sporting facilities.

The high court order was passed on a PIL filed by the Indian Institute of Architects, Navi Mumbai Centre, challenging the state government's decision to shift the sports complex from Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai to Mangaon.

The PIL had also challenged the decision taken by CIDCO, allotting part of the land to a private developer for residential and commercial development.