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

Lakhs of residents from Govandi Deonar and Mankhurd will have to put up with emissions for now from Mumbairsquos lone medical waste treatment plantmdashSMS Envocleanmdashdespite 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 wonrsquot be moving out of Mumbai anytime soonFor 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 backyardTrucks loaded with biomedical waste outside the Envoclean facility at Govandi File picFormer 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 MondayAlso Read Mumbai Brace for more bad air daysldquoWe have been closely monitoring the facility and warning them against noncompliance We cannot say further now that the proposal has been delisted We will look into the matterrdquo said an official from the Maharashtra Pollution control board MPCBResidents dejectedLocals are furious with the state administration over the setback ldquoThe 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 matterrdquo said Faiyaz Alam Shaikh resident of Shivaji Nagar in Govandi and founder president of NGO New Sangam Welfare SocietyShaikh said ldquoDespite opposition a wastetoenergy 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 nowrdquoCiting an order of the National Green Tribunal in the Mahul Village case Bilal Khan an activist of Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan said itrsquos 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 concernsKhan said ldquoThe 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 hererdquoThe 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 localsFight in courtIn a public interest litigation in the HC the residents have said that the incinerators at the Envoclean plant lack ldquodioxinand furancontrolling devicesrdquo 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 contractorrsquos petition on January 16 2023Locals link plant with TBThe medical waste treatment plant sits in MEast 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 5000 people are diagnosed with TB in the ward every year and the disease claimed 1877 lives between 2013 and May 20222009When the plant began operating in Govandi