Can’t completely shut Deonar dumpyard, says BMC chief

MUMBAI: Completely shutting down the city’s largest dumping ground at Deonar is not an option and it would take at least two years to even begin closing it down correctly, civic authorities said on Thursday.

“Completely shutting down the Deonar dumping ground is not an option,” municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta said. Civic officials handling the issue acknowledged that resolving the problem of frequent fires — and the resulting air pollution in several parts of the city — is important, but finding a solution would take time.

Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar, in a meeting on Wednesday, asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to come up with a plan to manage the waste at Deonar.

He told HT on Thursday, “Our focus is to resolve the issue arising out of the Deonar dump, which has been in the making for a long time. The environment ministry will monitor the situation, once the civic body comes back to us with a waste management plan in three months.’’

The BMC, meanwhile, said its plan to scientifically close down Deonar — by turning waste into energy— will take place in stages. Of the 132 hectares , the waste-to-energy technology will be used first in 10-12 hectares, processing 2,000 metric tonnes .

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