The court also sought details of the action taken on an earlier inspection report of the site. Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the collector to file a response within two weeks on alleged unscientific dumping of fly ash at Nandgaon.
Pansare, after inspecting the site, told the court that fly ash appeared to be at risk of being washed into Pench river during the monsoon, potentially causing water pollution. A division bench comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Rajnish Vyas passed the directions while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation initiated after a newspaper report highlighted the alleged dumping. The court had appointed Arnav Pansare as amicus curiae to assist it in examining the issue. Ravi Sanyal appeared for Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). He submitted geo-referenced and satellite images in support of his observations. The bench has now specifically asked the administration to disclose what action was taken on the committee’s report, along with its response to the allegations. The court has not recorded any final findings on whether fly ash from the Nandgaon site is entering Pench river.
The court had earlier directed the district administration to inspect the dumping site, following which the collector constituted a committee of officials.