Citizens of Wadala irked by waste-dumping on RAK Marg

Members of the Mumbai North-Central District Forum (MNCDF) and the Wadala West Citizens Forum (WWCF) told HT that they had been struggling to get the place cleared.

Mumbai: For the last one month, citizens’ forums of Wadala have been complaining to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) about the garbage heap piling up at RAK Marg in Wadala West. Residents of the area informed HT that they had been uploading photographs and videos on Twitter tagging the BMC but no action had been taken to date. The dumping spot is right next to BMC’s solid waste management check post, which dispatches waste collection vans in the area.

Illegally dumped garbage on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai (RAK) Marg, Wadala (West), in Mumbai (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Members of the Mumbai North-Central District Forum (MNCDF) and the Wadala West Citizens Forum (WWCF) told HT that they had been struggling to get the place cleared. Individual residents alleged that private contractors dumped construction debris in the night, and over a period of time the spot turned into a free-for-all dumping site. Chirag Dedhia, a local resident and member of MNCDF, said, “The BMC’s solid waste management department is right here on RAK road. It is ironic that no one from the department has noticed the huge pile of garbage which is blocking a lane and a footpath.”

Dedhia pointed out that the Wadala railway station and monorail station were both close by. “There’s also the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society’s centre and a college opposite this site, so this road sees a good number of pedestrians,” he said. “They are forced to walk on the road and put up with the stench as well.”

Kamlesh Hingad, another resident added that the garbage dump had caused a mosquito menace in the area. “After a long follow-up with the BMC on Twitter, they cleared the garbage a couple of times but this has become like a permanent dumping site now. Once some waste is deposited here, others come and add their garbage to the heap. The BMC should thoroughly clean this place and find a permanent solution.”

An official from the BMC’s solid waste management department, told HT that the centre in question was a check post from where all the garbage collection trucks went to different areas in the ward. “I saw the video you sent me but the debris are dumped by locals,” he said. “I have instructed the assistant engineer of the area to get this site cleared in two to three days.”

Kedar Sohoni from the Green Communities Foundation (GCF), a not-for-profit company working in the waste management and sustainability space in Mumbai and rural Maharashtra, said, “The issue of construction debris dumping is rampant in Mumbai. But it is the duty of not just contractors on construction sites but individual citizens as well to dispose of their debris in the proper way. People spend huge amounts of money on renovation but stinge on proper waste disposal. Sometimes debris is dumped in mangroves or forest areas, affecting the environment.”

Recently, on September 8, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), levied a whopping ₹12,000-crore environmental compensation fine on the Maharashtra government for its mismanagement of sewage, solid waste.