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…