If SC ban on construction not lifted, the loss would be unimaginable: Niranjan Hiranandani

There is already an order by another bench of Supreme Court on the solid waste management issue and this could be coming to the help of Mumbai City, Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-founder & MD, Hiranandani Group, tells ET Now.

Edited excerpts:

What is the scope of actually getting a stay on this ban by Supreme Court on construction activities in MP, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh for failing to implement a solid waste management policy?

The Maharashtra chief minister has made a very clear announcement that the action taken by the state government was probably not communicated properly to the Supreme Court. They have indicated that they are making a quick application to the Supreme Court today or tomorrow and state the steps taken in term of solid waste management proposal from 150 cities. Work has started in most of them and the programme is supposed to be complete by October 2, 2019.

If the facts are brought before the Supreme Court and clarified, the government expects the ban will be lifted. If it is not lifted, it is going to be chaotic, unbelievable! You cannot imagine the loss. I was just trying to think how many workers would be affected. In the Mumbai region alone, we have four lakh workers on infrastructure and housing projects. They will be out of job from tomorrow onwards, no wages from tomorrow morning. Even if it is delayed by one month, the labour will get totally removed from the sites. To start all these projects again is almost impossible, it will take two or three months.

A quick application to the Supreme Court to convince them that this is not the right measure to take and a promise that the solid waste management will be done as has been proposed by the chief minister would be a good idea.

That is one part of the story but what about real implementation? In Mumbaim it is still okay but the minute you travel to interior Maharashtra, there are just no checks and balances. That is a problem which needs to be sorted out.

I agree with you entirely. There is a major problem of solid waste management. There is also problems in terms of recycling of waste, the sewerage that we throw into the sea. All these things need to be taken up. But remember, for 70 years, you have not done anything and you cannot do to it overnight.

What really needs to be done is to progressively manage these things. The threat from the Supreme Court should be strong enough to ensure that the work is done faster. But you cannot do it overnight. But the chief minister of Maharashtra has promised that they shall take it up in a very severe manner. It is a serious matter and lots of progress has already taken place.

If this is communicated, an ad-hoc lifting of the ban could take place or it could be done progressively, taken into consideration that in case it is not implemented phase wise, it will be banned. We need to be warned. You cannot stop metro, you cannot stop Cross Harbour, you cannot stop railway projects, you cannot stop buildings. Most of all, people are not thinking about it, they are quite selfish. What about my labour who do not get wages from tomorrow morning? I have 6,000 workers on my sites. Can you imagine sending them home from tomorrow morning? It is unbelievable. You cannot possibly do it. It is a humanitarian issue, not only a construction issue.

Are you seeking a review at the earliest? You were highlighting that you are going to be looking at a stay on this order. The only possible way is a review. How quickly can things proceed because the judgement is now a reality?

I do not think any individual or institution can take a movement against it. We had got the ban lifted as far as Mumbai is concerned showing them the progress. So hopefully, at least for Mumbai region, we would be able to get this ban lifted. We will have to make an application to lift this ban because there is already an order by another bench on the solid waste management issue and this could be at least coming to the help of Mumbai City.
Another bench of the Supreme Court has given a phase-wise relief for the purposes of solid waste management but the issue is much bigger and I am hoping that the state government’s application which is expected to today or tomorrow will actually fructify and produce the result for the whole of Maharashtra.

I do not know what is the progress in other states. But Maharashtra is probably taking a lead in the matter. I am pretty scared as to how much setback it can cause to the state or the country if this ban really gets implemented in full force. You cannot imagine the multiplier effect of this ban.