26 April,2011 06:52 AM IST | | Rinkita Gurav
After MiD DAY reported about residents' woes regarding illegal dumping of garbage at Malad Creek, civic body pulls up its socks
The residents near Malad Creek can finally breathe in fresh air. The nauseating stench emanating from an illegal dumping yard and threatening their health will be a thing of the past as BMC has decided to find out the number of illegal dumping grounds in the city, after MiD DAY reported about the illegal dumping of debris near Malad Creek. (Oil, carcasses, waste dumped in Malad creek, April 7, 2011) Chief Engineer Bhalchandra Patil (Solid Waste Management) said, "I have asked all the assistant municipal commissioners to send me a list of unauthorised dumping grounds in the city within 24 hours." He further added that on investigating the area, the contractors claimed that they were not dumping any garbage in the creek but were only parking their vehicles on a nearby road.
In dumps: Malad Creek where the grabage is illegally dumped by
'Clean Up' trucks.
"If they are violating norms and are dumping garbage near the creek, then they would surely be penalised and may lose their contracts too," he said. Enviromentalist Deb Goenka says, "The yard is an illegal one as it is violating the coastal regulatory zone I norms. The mangroves located at the creek do not allow any non-forest activity by law." He further added that mangroves and the marine life there would be affected along with the residents.
Jay Verma, member of the Malad Creek Side ALM, said, "Dead animals, oil and chemicals are dumped into the creek which are polluting the environment and affecting our health." Verma said that they have requested the BMC to stop dumping in the area, but to no avail. "The BMC trucks dump anything and everything on the site, which has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes," he added.
Zero Garbage Week
As a part of its pre-monsoon drive to instil civic sense in Mumbaikars and rework the existing routes of garbage collection trucks, the BMC will observe 'Zero Garbage Week' from May 2 to May 8. If residents and private industry owners use open grounds for dumping garbage, or do not observe the rules of Zero Garbage Week then housing societies will be fined Rs 10,000.
