Locals creating trouble in revamp of dumping ground

The Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC) is again facing problems at the Deonar dumping ground with the local slum dwellers and rag pickers creating problems for Tatva Global Environment. The organisation has been appointed by the BMC to revamp the Deonar dumping ground.  The contractors and the labourers working on the site are threatened by the locals working at the dumping ground.

 The 127-hectare dumping ground, in existence since 1927, has been polluting the nearby creek waters besides contributing heavily to the deteriorating air quality in the neighbourhood. After a long battle between concerned residents and the authorities, the BMC was finally forced to give an affidavit in court stating that it would close the ground scientifically. The standing committee passed the proposal of closing the ground a couple of months ago.

BMC official says, “The menace has grown to such an extent that contractors are finding it difficult to carry out work at the site.” To carry out scientific closure of the dump, a project that is expected to take two years, the BMC needs to build a boundary wall.

But anti-social elements and rag pickers are apparently disrupting the work as the wall will end their access to the site. An official from the BMC's solid waste management department said that the anti-social elements run illegal businesses at the dumping site while the rag picker’s livelihood depends on the dump. "Once the boundary wall is completed, their businesses will shut down," the official said.

Tatva Global Environment wrote recently to the BMC saying it was ready to pay for security.  The BMC had planned for more than 60 guards at the site in 1996 but till date only 10 guards are manning the huge dumping ground with lathis and whistles. The officials have estimated that nearly 72 guards are needed to take care of the whole stretch.

Niti Arya, resident of Deonar points out, “If the guards man the area then so many crime related problems in the area can also be solved. The residents of co-operative society have also been troubled by these people working at the dumping ground.”

The BMC officials and residents have pointed out that the illegal activities have been going in for ages also these people have been creating trouble for everyone as they have been burning garbage which is a source of pollution of pollution in the area. In the past, civic officials who went to carry out a sub-soil survey of the ground were beaten up by the locals.

"There is a court order which makes it mandatory for us to provide security. If the security is not armed, it becomes difficult for self-defence. The building of the protection wall has also been hindered all this while because of violent protests. We have asked the state police protection force (SPPF) to provide the security to the dumping ground. Now the SPPF officials are doing the survey and tell us how many guards they would deploy,'' said additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev.