India, Aug. 2 -- The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Bombay High Court verdict that had restored the status of the Kanjurmarg dumping ground to a 'protected forest'. The stay order has paved the way for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to continue to dump solid waste at Mumbai's only active dump yard, where around 6,000 to 10,000 tonnes of garbage is dumped every day.

The Supreme Court order was delivered on a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state government, challenging the May 2 verdict of the high court, which had set aside a 2009 decision of the BMC to denotify the protected forest status of the land, so that they could use it as a dumping yard.

On Friday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai ...