Urban News

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan made it clear that in case the officials of the civic agency fail to comply with the court’s previous order, they will have to face contempt of court proceedings. This is for the third time that the MCD has sought extension of time since the courts’ order in May 2007 for relocating illegal dairies by August 31, 2008, with a compliance report.

The court’s directive came on an application filed by the MCD seeking another year, claiming the civic agency was developing Ghogha Dairy Colony where 2080 plots are available and applications were sought from the dairy owners for allotment. “Due to certain unavoidable circumstances, the relocation process could not be completed within the time-frame fixed by the High Court,” the counsel for MCD submitted.

Appearing for Common Cause, the NGO that filed the PIL in 2002, advocate Meera Bhatia contended that it was appreciable if the MCD worked on a war-footing and remove as many stray cattle from the streets as possible before the Commonwealth Games.

In 2002, while hearing the PIL seeking a direction to the MCD to take measures against stray cattle on city roads, the court had directed the civic agency to shift the dairies from urban areas of the city as stray cattle were causing traffic hazards. After a few years of non-compliance, some applications were filed before the court, to which the Division Bench had in May 2007 asked the MCD to shift illegal dairies by August 31, 2008.