The Bombay High Court on Friday slammed the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for its “extremely casual approach” towards the handling of waste at the Kanjurmarg dumping site in suburban Mumbai, and warned authorities that it may pass a drastic order stopping operations at the site and direct its relocation to an alternate site away from human habitation.Hearing the pleas of residents, including those from the Kannamwar Cooperative Housing Society Association Ltd situated in the vicinity of the site, the court was informed about the “quite serious” news reports showing the “disturbing state of affairs” claiming that the Kanjurmarg landfill site was emitting dangerous methane gas, considered to be a climate threat.A bench of Justices Girish S Kulkarni and Aarti A Sathe also observed that the court-appointed high-powered committee (HPC) headed by the state chief secretary under the supervision of Deputy Chief Minister and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde was also working in a “very lax manner”, which was “terrible”, and the officials were not considering it to be a “crisis”.Also Read | HC orders monitoring committee for Kanjurmarg dumping site, seeks stringent measures to mitigate foul odour“From what is now presented before us, things internationally appear to be in a very, very bad shape or light. If they are not improved, we will pass a reasoned order stopping the operations of this dumping ground. It is now high time that we value human lives. There is a problem right from the time this land was earmarked,” Justice Kulkarni orally remarked.Advocate Abhijeet Rane, for the petitioners, argued that, as per reports, the Kanjurmarg site has been ranked 12th among the world’s 700 super-polluting methane emission sites. “It is similar to the Bhopal gas tragedy…we are facing for the last 13 years. Officers and polluters have to be made liable,” he added.‘Cautioning the authorities’In its order, the bench noted, “We don’t know what are the ill effects of such emissions, which according to advocate Rane for petitioners, are caused due to the mismanagement of the dumping site. We, accordingly, as a matter of last opportunity direct, if things are not placed in order, and seriousness is not found by the committee appointed by us, or by the officials of BMC or the state government, in these circumstances, considering human life to be paramount, and the provisions of Article 21 (Right to life) of Constitution staring at the state government, and also the municipal authorities, there would be no alternative for this court, but to stop the dumping activities on the present site.”The bench went on to note, “We are accordingly cautioning the municipal [authorities] as a state machinery of this seriousness. We also accordingly direct that in the event such drastic orders are required to be passed, the state government, and BMC shall start working from today itself to find out an alternate site, so that the dumping activities can be shifted to such site, and which are not affected by human habitation. Such operations can partly be accordingly transferred to such site, is our prima facie opinion.”Story continues below this adAlso Read | ‘Right to breathe fresh air part of Article 21 of constitution,’ HC seeks short-term measures over Kanjurmarg dumping siteThe court directed authorities to file affidavits on the site’s latest position, concerns raised in news reports, and on handling a “site being internationally considered as one of the worst dumping grounds”, based on which it will pass orders on April 27. In the meantime, the judges indicated they would visit the site.Senior advocate Anil Sakhare, for the BMC, submitted the committee report concerned deems the Kanjurmarg facility relocation “presently not feasible”, and abrupt discontinuation without alternatives would severely impact Mumbai’s solid waste management. He said authorities are addressing concerns, including methane emissions.The contractor’s advocate, Saket Mone, said the monitoring committee-recommended measures were implemented, and people can now walk on the nearby road, and that a shift to waste‑to‑energy from bioreactor would resolve methane issues.