India, Sept. 11 -- Stating that the civic body's assurances on cleanliness had only remained "on paper", the Bombay high court on Thursday warned the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of contempt action against its ward officers if they failed to tackle the city's persisting garbage and littering problem.

The division bench of Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale, while looking at pictures presented before it, said, "There's filth, dirt, on the public streets. If your commissioner isn't aware, we can provide pictures of the entire city. If your ward officer isn't functioning, we will issue contempt action against you. It's a pathetic situation."

It also directed the BMC to file an affidavit within 10 days, naming every w...