Mumbai: Biomedical waste treatment plant to stay in Govandi for now

Fight against the biomedical waste plant

Lakhs of residents from Govandi, Deonar and Mankhurd will have to put up with emissions, for now, from Mumbai's lone medical waste treatment plant - SMS Envoclean - despite waging a spirited fight to pack it out of the city limits. Authorities have delisted a proposal for environmental clearance for setting up the Envoclean facility at Khalapur in Raigad district, which means it won't be moving out of Mumbai anytime soon.

For years, those living in Govandi, Deonar and Mankhurd have said that the Envoclean plant has been spewing toxic smoke posing health hazards. Locals and activists pinned their hopes on the environmental clearance (EC) as the last stage of their fight to get the plant shifted away from their backyard.

Trucks loaded with biomedical waste outside the Envoclean facility at Govandi. File pic

Former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray had ordered the relocation of SMS Envoclean to Khalapur by May 2022. However, the relocation had been delayed until June 2023 owing to pending EC, which was rejected by the state environment department on Monday.

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"We have been closely monitoring the facility and warning them against non-compliance. We cannot say further, now that the proposal has been delisted. We will look into the matter," said an official from the Maharashtra Pollution control board (MPCB).

Residents dejected

Locals are furious with the state administration over the setback. "The matter has been delayed for years, it was a tiny ray of hope that SMS Envoclean would get the EC to shift the biomedical waste treatment plant to Khalapur. However, we have now realised that they have been cheating us all this while, giving us false hope. The Bombay High Court is already hearing the matter," said Faiyaz Alam Shaikh, resident of Shivaji Nagar in Govandi, and founder president of NGO New Sangam Welfare Society.

Shaikh said, "Despite opposition, a waste-to-energy plant to be set up in Deonar received an EC within four months time. And SMS Envoclean failed to get the EC. This seems to be a preplanned move now."

Citing an order of the National Green Tribunal in the Mahul Village case, Bilal Khan, an activist of Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, said it's a failure on the part of planning authorities when a big chunk of the population living in the vicinity of industrial locations are exposed to pollution, triggering conflicts and health concerns.

Khan said, "The MPCB was then directed to form a committee of experts to suggest the location criteria for industries and activities involved in hazardous chemicals handling and more specifically the environmentally safe distance from residential areas, as per provisions of the Air act and Environmental [Protection] Act, 1986. In this case, the SMS Envoclean is situated right in the middle of habitation, whereas authorities are not helping but waiting for proof of health hazards caused. Now the question is why the EC was delisted, which means the project is not environmentally viable and risky, so why let it operate here?"

The MPCB in September 2020 directed Envoclean to divert 50 per cent of its COVID waste to a facility in Taloja. In 2021, it started diverting half the load to Taloja amid repeated demands from the locals.

Fight in court

In a public interest litigation in the HC, the residents have said that the incinerators at the Envoclean plant lack "dioxin-and furan-controlling devices". Since there is no buffer zone of 500 metres demarcated to reduce the health impact, it is evident that dangerous emissions are impacting the health of residents in the area, says their PIL. According to the petition, the plant started functioning in 2009 without any environmental clearance and without following due process under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2006 and no public consultation was held. The HC will hear the PIL and the contractor's petition on January 16, 2023.

Locals link plant with TB

The medical waste treatment plant sits in M-East ward, which covers nearly 250 slum pockets and is a known TB hotspot. The residents have alleged that rising pollution in the area has aggravated the disease that affects the lungs. As per data gathered through RTI in September, at least 5,000 people are diagnosed with TB in the ward every year and the disease claimed 1,877 lives between 2013 and May 2022.

2009
When the plant began operating in Govandi