MAN SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR RAPING MINOR

PIL STATED THAT DEVELOPMENT CAN BE SUSTAINABLE ONLY IF IT'S BASED ON ASSIMILATIVE CAPACITY OF THE NATURAL, BUILT ENVIRONMENT

- Karuna Nidhi

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to reply to a public interest litigation (PIL) calling for sustainable or carrying-capacity-based development in Mumbai.

The petition, filed by the non-profit Conservation Action Trust, stated that development can be sustainable only if it is based on the assimilative capacity of the natural and built environment. It added that a carrying-capacity-based model assesses the existing environment and infrastructure to determine if it can withstand more stress and, if so, to what extent.

Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of people an area's environment can support through optimum utilisation of the available resources. It is indicative of the intrinsic link between town planning, human development, and environmental preservation.