In a verdict on December 19, the court also ordered the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) to install dustbins in the lake's vicinity and keep ``trespassers'' out. It has directed the corporation to prohibit anglers from fishing in the water and prevent garbage from being dumped into its depths. The hawkers, who have contributed generously to both congestion in the area and pollution of the lake, must be removed and the civic authorities should also ensure that they do not return, the court has told the TMC.

The judgment was delivered on a public interest petition filed by three citizens and is significant as it is the first ever public interest litigation (PIL) to be heard by a lower court in Thane. Section 91 the Civil Procedure Code empowers a lower courtto entertain a PIL just as Article 227 of the Constitution allows the same to be filed in a high court.

The petitioners - Nitin Deshpande, Mahesh Kurle and Ashok Patil - first filed a petition in the court of Thane First Class Judicial Magistrate, K R Dhayade, on November 17, 1995. It was, however, dismissed on February 6, 1997. They therefore filed an appeal in the Thane Civil Court on July 16, 1997.

The lake, at Talavpali, where traffic and pedestrian congestion is the worst in the city, does not supply potable water though it is a popular recreation spot. Hawkers, who began encroaching on the pavement surrounding the lake since 1985, have now almost completely taken over the footpath besides spilling over. Now, they are responsible for polluting the water as well, the petition says.

People strolling along the lake patronise these hawkers and consequently throw edibles and wrappers into the water. The vada pav, bhaji-pav vendors, fruit-sellers, balloon and ice-cream vendors here attract hordes ofclients, further congesting the area, it adds. Pedestrians therefore crowd the road, which is already choked with traffic, the petition states. With a market, railway station and educational institutions in the immediate vicinity, congestion has become intolerable. The hawkers are therefore a primary source of public nuisance, it points out.

Moreover, residents in the vicinity dump garbage into the water, which pollutes the lake and kills aquatic life. In 1992, the civic authorities dredged the lake but there was no follow-up action. Beggars and hawkers have since flocked to the area in large numbers, the petition says.

The petitioners state that they had written to the then municipal commissioner in 1995 but their plea went unheeded. Finally, they took recourse to the law, they point out. One of the petitioners, Deshpande, states that he received a letter from the TMC's Health Department, claiming that the civic authorities had been conducting regular checks in the area. In spite of ordering the hawkersto vacate, the latter continued to monopolise the place, the letter stated.

The court has now directed the TMC to clear all encroachers from the vicinity and ordered the civic authorities to maintain regular vigil. The petitioners were represented by advocate Prashant Panchankashari while the Thane Municipal Corporation was represented by A Aagashe.