Bombay HC grants interim relief to cowshed owners

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday extended interim relief allowing cowshed owners to not shift cowsheds outside city limits for the time being, and also allowed petitioners to amend their petitions, as now they want to be rehabilitated in Aarey milk colony in Goregaon, instead of the BMC’s allotted Dabcheri area.

The move to shift cowsheds outside of Mumbai took off in 2005 with the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by social activist Bhagwanji Raiyani, alleging that cowsheds are unhygienic and hazardous to human health and hence should be shifted outside the city’s residential areas.

Following the PIL, the high court issued several directions in its favour. Cowshed owners then moved to the Supreme Court to challenge the high court’s directions. However in 2012 the apex court had referred this matter back to the high court saying that the latter is obliged to decide on the matter.

In the meantime, the BMC notified entire Mumbai compelling the cowsheds to shift out of Mumbai. The BMC notified the cowsheds to relocate from Aarey to Dabcheri, but many cowshed owners filed a petition in high court against this decision.