People demand closure of dump yard
Residents of Kalyan, took to the streets on Monday, demanding closure of Adharwadi dumping ground , which has caught fire thrice in a week this month alone .
The frequent fires at the dump yard, which is spread over 15 acres, have led to severe air pollution, causing respiratory and breathing issues among many residents who live close to the dump yard.
“We have been suffering from various health issues for the past several years. This year, it’s worse as the dumping ground has been catching fire often, due to which there is thick smoke in the area all the time,” said Mamta Jain, 38.
The fire on March 11 was a major incident, and it was fully doused by fire officials only after three days, on March 14.
A group of residents and representatives of the Dumping Ground Hatao Sangharsh Samon iti, Kalyan threatened to boycott civic elections in the future, if their demand was not met.
“We will keep protesting until the dumping ground is closed. We don’t want it in our area. The civic body should take our demands seriously,” said Mahesh Bankar, founder member of the Samiti. “We will also boycott the civic elections in future if our demands are neglected again,” he added.
The group met the newly appointed Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) chief Govind Bodke, and explained their problems to him. Bodke has assured them that he will visit the dump yard Wednesday and take necessary action.
“Residents met me and demanded immediate closure of the dump yard. They also explained the health problems they face because of the thick smoke emitted by the fire. I have assured them that the civic body will take immediate short-term as well as long-term measures, after my visit to the dump yard on Wednesday,” Bodke said.
After the June 2016 fire at the dump yard, the civic body had assured residents that it would work to curb such incidents. However, it has failed to take measures to prevent fires.
On March 11, the residents of the area had protested against the civic body by staging a rasta roko at Lal Chowky in Kalyan (West), which led to traffic disruption for over an hour. Former civic body chief P Velarasu had initiated the watering of the dump yard regularly for the summer, as a short-term measure to prevent fires.
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