It is almost two years since the state government had earmarked a plot in Taloja in Navi Mumbai for a dumping ground for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). However, around 12 hectare of the total proposed plot is encroached, and the civic has not yet received possession of the same.
Vishwas Shankarwar, deputy municipal commissioner of Solid Waste Management (SWM) department of BMC confirmed that encroachment over 12 ha land is yet to be removed. The total area of the plot is around 52 ha.
The Mulund dumping ground was closed from October 1 and city's trash is now being dumped at the existing landfill--Deonar and Kanjurmarg. However, the Deonar dumping ground has also reached to saturation. The civic body will soon need alternate landfill to dump city's trash.
Mumbai generates around 7200 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage everyday. Earlier, garbage was being dumped at three landfills. However, after closing Mulund dumping ground permanently on October 1, the BMC is dumping all trashes at Deonar and Kanjurmarg.
According to official, they are also working on a plot near Airoli in Navi Mumbai as alternate plot for dumping ground.
At one side the civic body had to close the Mulund dumping ground while in another side, villagers of 23 villages in Taloja have opposed the proposal of dumping ground near their villages. Usatane gram panchayat has already passed a proposal against state government's move and they have decided to oppose the proposed dumping ground.
Around 8000 to 9000 villagers from these 23 villages have cheesed off with the state government's decision as they were also fed with CIDCO's dumping ground in Ghot-Chal village which is just around 3 km. "Another dumping ground will force us to leave our villages as the place becomes unlivable during monsoon. We have decided to oppose the move," said a senior member of Usatane gram panchayat. Meanwhile, officials in BMC are also worried over transportation cost as it is around 50 km from Mulund.
Know The Hurdle
- Villagers of 23 villages in Taloja opposed BMC’s proposal of a dumping ground near their villages
- They already have CIDCO dumping ground in Ghot-Chal village which is just 3 km away
