The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that all decorative lights installed on trees ahead of the G20 Summit, within its jurisdiction, have been removed.
The HC was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition highlighting light pollution and other ill-effects of excessive use of decorative lights on trees and other organisms dependent on the trees. The plea sought removal of high-tension cables, wires, lighting, and signposts that were draped, wrapped, or otherwise placed on trees in Mumbai, Thane, and Mira Bhayander.
BMC Advocate Urja Dhond informed the bench that the civic body had issued a circular for the same and has received reports from officers concerned that all the lights have been removed. Dhind said they will file an affidavit giving details of the same.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar has asked other municipal corporations to file their affidavits.
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Advocate Ronita Bhattacharya, appearing for petitioner Thane-resident Rohit Joshi, urged the court to direct the State government to file an affidavit too as the issue of light pollution might not be limited to the three municipal corporations.
Affidavit filed by the Thane civic body’s additional municipal commissioner Sandeep Malvi stated that they have issued directions in ward committees, through garden inspectors, asking all respective shops, hotels and malls to remove lighting on trees installed by them and asked them to file a report for the same. If these shops, hotels and malls owners fail to remove the lighting, then action will be initiated against them.
Further, a review meeting was conducted by the Thane municipal commissioner wherein all executive engineers and assistant municipal commissioners of all ward committees have been directed to “resurvey all the trees on roadside for concretization,lightings on trees and advertisements /banners on trees” and take action against violators.
The plea by Joshi, who is founder and president of Yeoor Environmental Society, sought strict implementation of Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act which stipulates protection of trees from burning, felling and damage. The petition submits that such lighting and wrapping of wires is detrimental to insects, mammals and birds during their nest building, roosting and other activities.
The petition states that a paper titled “Studying light pollution as an emerging environmental concern in India” was published in the Journal of Urban Management, which noted that “ALAN (Artificial Light at Night) affects the natural cycles of plant species, as well as the dark hour, which is necessary for the plants to perform photosynthesis efficiently”. The experiments were conducted in 2018 to study the ill-effects of street lights on trees.
