BMC to sweeten garbage stench emanating from Deonar dump

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to spray a powerful deodorant at Deonar dumping ground in a bid to address complaints about the city's stinking garbage crisis.

The civic body believes that the fragrance will not only minimise the smell, but also attend to growing public concerns about sanitation, environmental health and fear of vector-borne diseases.

According to the information provided, the deodorant spray — a herbal and oil-based perfume — will be combined with an insect repellent (EET-60) and sprayed over the yard, spreading over 120 hectares. A proposal to this effect will be tabled before the standing committee on Thursday.

More than 2,500 metric tonnes of solid waste is disposed of at the yard daily. Bio-degradation of the waste leaves a foul odor, which spreads to the residential colonies around the ground.

"This makes the atmosphere unhygienic and disease-prone. It also aids in the multiplication of microbes, especially during rains, due to the moisture in the air," a senior BMC official said, adding that the spraying of a deodorant-insect repellent was first done in 2007.

The civic body then had appointed a private engineering firm to spray more than 200 litres of it daily for six months. The project had collectively cost the BMC around Rs47 lakh.

This time around, the civic body is planing to spray around 100 litres of the chemical mixture daily at the yard. The operation, which will go on till December, is set to cost the civic body around Rs1.10 crore, the official informed.

Solid Waste Management officer Baburao Chavan from the dumping yard said, "The project and its details are been worked out by senior officials. The mixture will be sprayed by diluting it with water and blowing it over the garbage piled via deodorant guns affixed on tankers. The chemical will not only prevent the harbouring and reproduction of insects, but also mellow the stench. The chemical EET-60 also acts as an anti-bacterial agent against the methane-producing bacteria."

Spray is a temporary fix

However, not everyone is impressed by the idea. Corporator Rais Shaikh said fragrant-laden chemicals sprayed on mountains of garbage are merely a temporary fix.

"They were to install CCTVs, construct boundary walls, appoint round-the-clock security at the site, but till date nothing has been done. The issue is on reducing the garbage inflow in the yard to relocate the dump site so as to provide relief to the populace around it. However, the BMC has failed on all counts," he added.

Shaikh also said that the officials, who had vouched to table air and water pollution reports every week before the standing committee have not tendered anything on Deonar yard.

Chinese lessons for BMC

According to a civic official, the BMC got the idea of using deodorant guns from China. A few years ago, the Beijing municipal authorities had installed 100 deodorant guns at one of their landfill sites on the edge of the city to tackle the same issue. The Asuwei dump site was causing severe health-related issues in the Chinese capital. Thus, the officials affixed high-pressure guns, which sprayed litres of fragrance per minute over a distance of up to 50 meters.

"The technology isn't Chinese, it is based on German and Italian technology. They are already in use at several landfill sites in these European nations. We are studying the Asuwei site model to replicate, if any, lessons in our yards," the official added.