India, April 11 -- 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 nonprofit 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 maxim...