Thane villagers talk trash!

The recent initiative by the Thane Municipal Corporation TMC to address its solid waste management challenges has encountered trouble once again with residents expressing concerns about the lack of scientific waste disposal methods absence of fumigation to mitigate stench and the absence of a mandatory buffer zone between the dumping site and nearby villages and schools After protests and opposition from residents of Chauda Gaav regarding the dumping of garbage at Bhandarli the civic body shifted the dumping site to Daighar Gaon which was designated for a wastetoenergy projectConsequently residents of Daighar Gaon have initiated protests against the TMC with some considering legal action including the possibility of taking the matter to court Thane currently generates 1039 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily with 624 tonnes consisting of wet waste and 390 tonnes comprising dry waste including inert wasteExcorporator Hira Patil the sitePreviously the civic body dumped its garbage in Diva facing accusations of damaging mangroves and subsequently being penalized by the National Green Tribunal After discontinuing garbage dumping at Diva in February 2023 the garbage was transported to Bhandarli Chauda Gaav temporarily However protests ensued leading to the clearance of the legacy garbage and the cessation of dumping activities there In response the Thane civic body relocated its operations to Daighar Gaon utilising a plot earmarked for a wastetoenergy treatment plant resulting in residents alleging that their lives have been made miserableAlso Read Mumbai Mercury hits 40 degrees Celsius mark in MMRThe Chauda GaavThe temporary dumping ground in the Chauda Gaav area has been utilised by TMC for nine months resulting in the accumulation of legacy waste amounting to 1 lakh metric tonnes MT Residents of a cluster comprising fourteen villages in Thane district have been actively opposing the establishment of the temporary dumping ground in the Chauda Gaav area The NGT took suo motu action against the TMC in response to a midday reportThe solid waste at the siteIn an order issued on January 10 2024 the NGT mandated that the TMC must clear the existing waste or legacy and present a closure plan in the next four months As part of this directive the NGT has stipulated that a bank guarantee of R5 lakh is to be deposited with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB within two weeks from the date of the order If the TMC fails to complete the specified tasks within the given timeframe the deposited amount will be subject to forfeitureDaighar Gaon protestResidents of Daighar Gaon have been protesting since 200102 when the TMC allocated a fivehectare plot from a land parcel reserved for a gardenplayground Initially designated for a wastetoenergy plant this facility remains unfinished even after two decades leading to the haphazard dumping of garbage in an unscientific manner This situation is now posing a health hazard with many villagers reporting crops rotting a problem they had never experienced beforeldquoDespite numerous RTIs filed with the TMC and MPCB to ascertain the intentions of the civic body most responses have been vague or nonexistent Recently we have noticed they have been burning the garbage and then covering it with soil We have no idea what they are up to but we have pictorial evidence of thisrdquo said a 73yearold resident Sayabai PatilVillage houses and rice field alongside garbage dumping plot PicsSatej ShindeldquoI have been living here for the past fiftytwo years I have seen relatives from the city coming to our village to enjoy the greener and peaceful environment Now with all the stench and flies coming due to the garbage dump relatives who come leave covering their noses mocking us saying it is much better in their placerdquo added Patil Echoing Sayabairsquos sentiments another resident Vasant Mhatre 72 recounted a recent incident where a family rejected a marriage alliance due to the proximity of their house to the dumping ground highlighting the adverse effects on their livesHira Patil former corporator and local NCP leader emphasised the need for decentralised waste management plants instead of concentrating them in one location causing inconvenience to residents Another resident of the village Mangesh Kotharkar told midday ldquoOur village is a very beautiful place But now TMC is gathering all the garbage from across areas under its jurisdiction in our backyard making our lives difficultrdquoWhat environmentalists sayGreen activist Stalin Dayanand said ldquoWhy should garbage be dumped near villages Instead we should adopt better practices like segregation at the sourcerdquo He advocated for better waste management practices like segregation at the source He highlighted the persistent pattern of disregard for environmental concerns by the TMC Concerns were also raised by Ashish Sinha director of Om Public School nearby regarding the impact on the school environment and safety of students due to the garbage dumpingAashish Sinha Director of the Om Public School Resident of the village Mangesh KotharkarClarifying the civic bodyrsquos stance Tushar Pawar deputy commissioner of Solid Waste Management at TMC ldquoThe residents have been opposing the waste to energy plants Their allegations are false we are not using the site as a dumping ground but it is being used as a processing site where garbage is segregated and sent to landfills and decentralised facilities While the Refuse Derived Fuel RDF obtained from the solid waste processing is sent to cement plantsrdquo