In a unique protest against cattle sheds dumping cattle dung in Dahisar River, citizens of a Borivli housing society along with members of the River March raised quite a stink at the BMC office on Wednesday by starting a Gobar Andolan. They presented the BMC R/Central ward officer Atul Rao with a box full of cattle dung.
Citizens met Rao to protest against the tabelas that have been violating solid waste management rules and dumping dung directly into the river along with carcasses of the animals. The BMC had even installed grills twice to prevent them from dumping waste into the river but the grills were stolen.
“We are facing a health scare. Residents of our building are forced to keep their windows shut throughout as the stench is unbearable,” said Pankaj Trivedi a resident of Shrikrishna Nagar Complex, Borivli, located adjacent to the river. Local BJP leader Vikram Chogle who has been supporting the River March movement launched by residents said that the citizens have started the Gobar Andolan to draw the attention of BMC officials to their problem.
“We wanted BMC officials to understand that if they do not like dung in their offices, citizens too do not like seeing it being dumped in their rivers. BMC needs to begin taking up strict action against tabela owners who are violating the rules set,” he said.
Gopal Jhaveri, Founder of River March, which is fighting for the revival of Dahisar river said that Rao assured them that the ward office will take action and send notices to all the tabelas.
