Police protection for garbage trucks going to Taloja dump

Following protest against dumping of garbage at Taloja dumping ground, the Cidco nodes are facing a major problem of garbage not being picked up. As the situation worsened, the Cidco has been forced to take police protection to transport the garbage to the dumping ground.

Sadguru Wamanbaba Maharaj Sangharsh Samiti (SWMSS) had staged a massive all-party morcha against dumping in the area by Cidco. This has led to the garbage bins overflowing on to roads.

Girish Raghvanshi, solid waste management officer, Cidco, said: “The protests stopped transport of garbage. The accumulated garbage in the nodes has become a health risk. We sought police protection and transported 81 tonnes on Thursday and more on Friday.”

The Cidco nodes, New Panvel, Khanda colony, Kalamboli, Kamothe and Kharghar now also include Ulwe, Karanjade, Nawde

and Taloja. The population of all these nodes is rising by the day. This has led to increase in the garbage being generated as well.

A few years ago, Cidco had developed the dumping ground in Ghot to dispose of the garbage from the nodes. It claimed that garbage here is disposed in a scientific manner. Its agency BVG, transports 250 to 300 tonnes of garbage here every day.

Over the years, residents have been opposing the dumping during

monsoon due to the odour.

Raghvanshi said: “We dispose garbage in a scientific manner. Bio-degradable and non-degradable garbage is separated here. Fertilizer is manufactured from bio-degradable garbage. The rest is sent to the landfill site.”

Dhanaji Patil, president of SWMSS, said: “We will continue our opposition and ensure that the authorities act to resolve the issue and accept our demand to stop dumping garbage here.”

HT FILE PHOTO Dumped garbage is a common sight across all Cidco nodes such as New Panvel, Khanda colony, Kalamboli and Kamothe.