Will follow scientific process to dispose of Deonar waste: BMC

Mumbai: A day after holding a meeting with Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in light of the fire incidents at Deonar dumping yard, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Thursday said it would follow a scientific process to dispose of waste.

Asked what the civic body would do to counter the menace of dumping waste in the city at Deonar yard amid serious health and environmental concerns, BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta told PTI: "Now we are moving Deonar towards scientific processing the waste."

Mehta had yesterday apprised Environment Ministry officials about corrective and precautionary measures being undertaken by the civic administration in the wake of frequent fires at suburban Deonar dumping ground, causing emission of toxic gases and leading to lakhs of residents living in its vicinity being exposed to high pollution levels.

The 90-minute meeting in Delhi yesterday was chaired by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javdekar.

"In wake of recent fires in #Deonar garbage dumping site, discussed short,medium & long-measures for effective integrated waste management," Javadekar tweeted.

"...Asked the Maha and Mumbai Mahanagar Palika officials to have an integrated waste management system in #Deonar," he said in another tweet.

Earlier, taking a serious note of frequent fires at Deonar dumping ground, the Environment Ministry had sent a two-member committee to probe the matter and submit a report. The committee submitted its report yesterday to the ministry.

Commenting on the issue, activist Anil Galgali said it is surprising that BMC is struggling with the problem when options like recycling waste and generating electricity are available.

"The situation has arisen because scientific disposal of garbage is not done, while a smaller municipal corporation like Navi Mumbai has set up debris management plant," he said.

The issue has also sparked political spar.

Holding the Shiv Sena and BJP responsible for the situation, Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had earlier sought to put blame on these two parties.

"Since last 23 years these two parties are ruling one of the richest municipal bodies, but they never bothered to develop a mechanism to dispose the waste scientifically, while many national and international cities have gone far ahead of us," Nirupam had said.