Disallowing Deonar dumping will litter city: BMC to HC

If the Deonar dumping ground were to be shut down now, then the entire city would be littered with dirt and this would have a huge impact on public health and the environment, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claimed before the Bombay High Court on Thursday. On these bizarre grounds, the BMC sought to obtain a 17th extension of the deadline by which the dumping of solid waste at the site in Deonar near Govandi could be stopped.

This was mentioned in an affidavit filed by the Solid Waste Management (SWD) department before the Bombay High Court on Thursday, wherein the civic body has claimed that it would need time until June 2023 to scientifically treat the garbage at Deonar site.

The affidavit, filed by the SWD's chief engineer Anjali Shirke, was submitted before a bench of Justices Satyaranjan Dharmadhiari and Riyaz Chagla and the matter is going to be taken up for hearing on Friday morning. In its affidavit, the civic body has detailed the steps it has undertaken to construct the 'waste-to-energy' plant at Deonar, right from failing to get bidders to measures taken to bring down non-segregated waste. It has also lauded the Swachha Bharat Abhiyan, claiming that it has made citizens more alert about cleanliness.

Meanwhile, A minor fire broke out in the dumping ground at Deonar on Thursday afternoon 2 pm. However fire the fire was minor and was brought under control in an hour, said a fire official. Deonar Dumping ground use to handle 10,500 metric tonnes of waste, which was later reduced to around 1,500 metric tonnes Meanwhile, similar fire incidents have been reported in 2016 that lasted for around seven days followed by again in 2018.