RABINDRA NATH KAKAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in this public interest litigation primarily question the infrastructure project undertaken by the Municipal Corporation alongwith other authorities namely the State Government and the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority to connect the areas of Versova and Lokhandwala. The public project interalia is to construct vehicular bridge at the junction of Yari Road and Lokhandwala Back Road, near Amarnath Tower building having single span steel arch of length of 110 meters with approach road on either side( for short "the said project")

(2.) The petitioners no 1 to 13 are stated to be residents of Versova- Mumbai and claim to be active participants in the conservation and beautification of environment. Petitioner no.14 is the Co-operative Housing Society of the other petitioners (for short "the co-operative- society").

(3.) Case of the petitioners is that in or around May 2013 the petitioner no.14 issued letters to various authorities including respondent no 1 to 5 informing them that the contractor appointed by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), had off loaded Soil Testing Equipment, next to the mangroves close to the premises of petitioner no.14 Cooperative Society. The co-operative Society requested the authorities, to appraise it, as to the reason behind off-loading of the equipment next to the mangroves. There was no response to these letters from any of the authorities. The members of the co-operative society, hence enquired with the workers/contractor undertaking the work, of the reason behind soil testing, when they were informed that the same was being undertaken for the proposed work of the MCGM, to construct link road/bridges to connect certain regions of Versova to Lokhandwala.