After residents and activists raised the alarm about pervasive dumping and deforestation in Mulund's mangrove habitat, MiD DAY's investigations yielded contradictory claims
After residents and activists raised the alarm about pervasive dumping and deforestation in Mulund's mangrove habitat, MiD DAY's investigations yielded contradictory claims
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Wasteland: Truckloads of waste are dumped everyday from across the
city at the Mulund dumping ground, which is gradually encroaching into
the mangrove habitat, endangering it. Pics/Sameer Markande
Moreover, the dumping ground in the region has not been shut down as had been promised earlier by the authorities and is causing a great threat to the forest cover. While the BMC commissioner appears to be clueless about the goings on in the region, the chief engineer of the solid waste management department insists that there aren't any mangroves in the vicinity of the dumping ground at all.
On Sunday, Team MiD DAY decided to verify if these allegations had any basis in fact, and ventured deep into the restricted area, close to the existing Mulund Municipal dumping ground. What it discovered was appalling: it appears that the single largest wetland in the city is being destroyed in a very planned manner. Making the place an eyesore were heaps of stones and rubble dumped from construction sites. Also, mounds of garbage and debris were being burnt, with billowing fumes rising into the air. The BMC obviously has no idea how to make good its earlier promise to ensure scientific waste disposal from the area.
Dumper's paradise: truck is seen offloading garbage at the Mangrove
habitat
It appeared to team Mid DAY that the mangrove habitat, which sprawls over a two-kilometre radius, is being systematically choked, to make way for private construction work and other 'development' work. The question is, should progress and prosperity have to come at the cost of razing down a valuable patch of the city's already depleting green cover?
Activist speaks
"Wetlands should be kept free from dumping grounds, according to the rules set by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). Not only have these rules been violated, but also the authorities have gone a step ahead to mow down the mangroves in order to increase the area of the dumping ground. Why does the government need as many as three dumping grounds in an eight km stretch? We already have two other dump yards in Kanjurmarg and Deonar. Moreover, is burning down garbage a scientific method of waste disposal?" asked Stalin Dayanand, a local activist.
No entry: A signboard put up in the area declares that the zone has
been earmarked for development under the SEZ Act
Dayanand added that though the civic authorities were being evasive about answering these questions and there were no signboards displaying the names of developers, the entire area would soon be levelled and sold to private builders for commercial use. "4000 acres is a lot of land in a city that is running out of open spaces, and will bring in phenomenal sums of money," he said.u00a0
Livelihoods lost
Ashish Patil, who hails from Kopri, a local fishing village, claimed that over two hundred individuals had been deprived of their livelihood owing to the pervasive dumping. "For ages, our community has been dependent on these marshes for fishing, but all that has changed now. At first, the local fisher folk and residents were barred from entering this area by some menacing looking watchmen who had been posted here, who threatened police action on anyone trespassing on private property. Gradually, the marshy area is being choked to non existence," alleged Patil.
Treehuggers speak
Environmentalist Debi Goenka said, "The BMC is earning money out of these dumping grounds by means of carbon credits from the World Bank. The World Bank has a body which monitors carbon emissions, but they are indirectly helping the BMC break the law."u00a0
Rishi Aggarwal, another environmentalist, was of the opinion that this is gross negligence on part of the authorities. "If the authorities are serious about protecting the mangroves, the guilty, whether from government agencies or private builders' lobbies, have to be identified and punished."
Egregious violation
The planned construction work is in gross violation of the High Court's ruling in October 2005, which had imposed a ban on the construction work or dumping in the region. After hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group for the conservation of mangroves, a High Court order passed by a division bench, including Justice J N Patel and Justice B R Gavai, had in January 2010 decreed that no non-forest activities would be permitted throughout the state. It had further said that its directive would hold good, irrespective of whether the government had notified the mangrove habitat as a "protected forest" or not. Also, the Coastal Regulatory Zone prohibits construction from being carried out within 500 metres of the coastline.
Bio-methanation plans
The bio-methanation plant will come with a price tag of Rs 654 crore. The Mulund dumping ground receives 4,000 metric tonnes of garbage every day, nearly six times its capacity. Such extensive dumping began in the wake of the closure of the Gorai dumping ground last year, after which the civic administration sanctioned dumping from 16 wards in Mulund. After the plant is set up in about one-and-half years, only 500 metric tonnes of vegetable waste and wet garbage from hotels and markets will be off-loaded at the Mulund dumping ground. The remaining 3,500 metric tonnes of garbage will be sent to Deonar and Kanjurmarg dumping sites.
The Other Side
When contacted, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Subodh Kumar claimed to have no knowledge of what was going on. He promised to get the requisite details from concerned officials. "I will personally look into the matter and take all appropriate measures to ensure that the mangrove habitat is preserved. The entire area is protected by a High Court ruling," he assured. Revenue Commissioner of the Konkan Division S S Sandhu, who is the designated officer-in-charge of mangrove conservation, categorically stated that the policies on any type of construction over mangrove land are very stringently monitored.
He added that he would be summoning the District Collector to be briefed about the issue. "The law is very straightforward, and prohibits any construction work on the mangrove habitat. The press has done a good job of bringing this issue to my notice. Fortunately, we had mapped the entire area in 2005. If we do find any discrepancies when the maps are compared with the present shape of the habitat, appropriate action will be taken" he said.
Valsa Nair Singh, environment secretary for the state replied through a text message saying, "Sorry, I am on leave. Out of town." A M Khan, principal secretary of the Department of Industries, said, "There are three stages that any company needs to clear before undertaking development work- principal, formal and notification. Other than this one also needs clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. In any case, no company can get permission to clear mangroves. I am not aware of the stage of planning that the SEZ is presently in."
Where are the mangroves?
Balchandra Patil, chief engineer of BMC's solid waste management department claimed that the area was being developed into a special economic zone (SEZ). He said, "The government has sanctioned the construction of an SEZ in the area. The levelling of the land that you noticed is not being undertaken by the BMC, but is a part of this development project." He added,u00a0 "We are constructing a bio-methanation unit that has the capacity to process 500 metric tonnes of organic waste daily. Once the Kanjur Marg dumping ground starts functioning, no garbage will be offloaded at the Mulund dumping ground, other than organic waste. As for the fire, it is primarily because of methane, and rise in temperature." Asked about the alleged razing of mangroves, he said, "There are salt pans in the area, and no water from the sea. Thus there aren't any mangroves close to the area that is being developed. So there is no question of mangroves being mowed down. They might have been dead, but not cut. The government penalises mangrove felling very heavily."
Said Nirmal Kumar Deshmukh, the suburban collector, "There are 20 acres of mangroves near the Kanjurmarg dumping ground which we have earmarked for protection. There are absolutely no mangroves to be cleared near the Mulund dumping ground. What you can see on Google must be some other kind of vegetation. I have stayed in the Kopri colony and am aware of the filth and squalour created by the extensive dumping. But the modern plant in Kanjur Marg will take care of the hazardous situation."
When contacted, Sudhir Gate, deputy chief engineer of the BMC's development plan department said, "We had received notification of the SEZ earlier but the BMC doesn't have any stake in it. Some part of the Mulund Dumping ground would be given to the project."
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