The Bombay High Court has pulled up the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for installing an open power transformer box and high tension electric wires in the middle of a busy road junction on the Goregaon-Malad Link Road, terming it a grave risk to public safety.
A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Advait Sethna, while hearing a petition filed by the Marathon Maxima Co-operative Housing Society, noted that the transformer posed an “imminent danger” to human life and directed the authorities to “forthwith remove” the installation.
Photographs submitted by the petitioner revealed that the transformer, along with high tension wiring, was located directly at the center of a heavily trafficked intersection. The court remarked, “We wonder as to how at such a place (middle of the road) an electricity installation can be installed at all.”
The judges observed that there appeared to be no maintenance, protection measures, or even basic precautions around the transformer. The MSEDCL, responsible for the installation, had failed to act with due diligence, the court said.
“The BMC, which is currently executing development work on the Goregaon-Malad Link Road, has turned a complete blind eye,” the bench noted sharply, adding that in the event of an accident, officials from both the BMC and MSEDCL would be held liable for all damages, consequences, and compensation.
“No other inference can be drawn from such a state of affairs,” the court concluded, terming the situation unacceptable.
The bench directed both agencies to take immediate steps to remove or relocate the transformer and scheduled the next hearing for May 7.
The petitioner society had also flagged concerns over confiscated or towed vehicles being dumped by the police outside their residential gate, causing serious obstruction. Government pleader Purnima Kantharia informed the court that the vehicles had since been cleared.
