Bombay HC upholds state’s ban on hilltop, slope construction
Bombay high court recently upheld the state government’s directives to prohibit construction on hilltops and hillslopes and to adhere to a 100 feet no-development buffer zone around the hills. A bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and Anuja Prabhudesai said the state has exercised its power not to defeat the purpose of a law that regulates construction and development, but to ensure that civic and state bodies take “measures to preserve ecology and prevent environmental damage, accidents resulting in loss of human life and property.’’ The high court dismissed a clutch of petitions filed by members of housing societies and builders from Mumbai and Pune challenging two orders of the National Green Tribunal in Pune and the November 2017 hilltop policy. The bench found no merit in the submissions as it amounted to illegally altering the development plans for these cities and held that the state “cannot be faulted’’.
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