The court also directed the BMC to submit a list of 30 days per year, when it will allow the ground to be used for various functions.
After directing the state government to declare Shivaji Park as a ‘silence zone’, the Bombay high court on Thursday restrained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from allowing vehicle parking at the Shivaji Park playground.
A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice SC Dharmadhikari restrained the civic body from permitting parking of vehicles, including heavy four-wheelers, only except the ones which are used for cleaning the playground.
The court also directed the BMC to submit a list of 30 days per year, when it will allow the ground to be used for various functions.
The high court directive came while hearing public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a city-based NGO, Wecom trust, and two citizens Ashok Ravat and Sharad Dixit. The petitioners stated that the government and civic body have not declared Shivaji Park and its vicinity as silence zones as per the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Act, 2000. Also, the PIL contends that although Shivaji Park has been declared a ‘kridasthan’ (playground or open ground), it is very often used for non-sports activities like festivals, political rallies, and on several occasions for car parking.
The petitioners’ counsel and senior advocate Virag Tulzapurkar said the park is meant to be a playground, and it can be rented out only for days of national importance such as August 15 and January 26. Even such use is permitted only for a total of 30 days in a year and for maximum of 12 days at a stretch. “They also allow other functions to happen on the ground. 90 days are granted for Ramleela, 9 days for Kali Puja, and then there is the Mango Festival, Orange Festival and the Vada-pav Sammelan,” said Tulzapurkar.
After hearing submissions of the petitioner, justice Shah said, “Let us acknowledge that although we are one country, there are two countries within India. One is rural India and then there is the urban India. We need to harmonize these two.”
The high court on May 5 this year had also restrained the local police from granting permission for use of loudspeakers of any kind at functions in the park at night.
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