Construction waste is being illegally dumped at Chembur

Around 10-12 trucks were found illegally dumping construction waste on a vacant plot alongside a drain being de-silted at Chembur on Thursday. The incident came to light a day after FPJ revealed how a blacklisted contractor illegally dumped excavated slash and debris and then sold that to other civic contractors for blending with silt.

After an anonymous caller alerted the civic officials, they reached the spot. Surprisingly, Chembur (M west) ward officials fined only a single truck with a Rs 20,000 penalty. A senior civic official from the solid waste management department told FPJ, “We got a call from an anonymous caller who notified us about such illegal activities in the locality. We rushed to the spot and caught a truck that was trying to escape after dumping the material. Till then, there were heaps of construction waste already dumped by around 10-12 trucks.”

Activist Zahid Shaikh, present on the spot, said, “While civic officials were interrogating the truck driver, someone called Deven intervened and started arguing with the civic officials. He claimed that the construction material belonged to MP Prakash Mehta and all permission had been sought.” Repeated attempts to contact Mehta failed.

The waste had been dumped alongside Chheda Nagar drain which is currently being de-silted.

Shaikh said, “This is a pattern wherein the construction materials is dumped alongside a drain that is being de-silted. It becomes easier for the contractor to mix the material with silt and increase his number of trips to the dumping ground. The civic body should fine all the trucks and should find out the place where the material came from.”

Civic officials said required permission (Construction and Demolition permission) was not given by the SWM department for dumping material at Chheda Nagar.