Illegal units create pollution hell for Chandivali residents

Since 2017, residents of the township, which has over 5,000 houses, have written umpteen letters to the authorities to shut down the heavily polluting illegal units. However, no action has been taken and the units continue to emit toxic smoke

Mumbai: For the last five years, residents of the Nahar Amrit Shakti township at Chandivali have been at the receiving end of immense air pollution in their area. The source of the pollution is the commercial units—farsan-manufacturing businesses and aluminium smelting workshops—that operate very close to the residential area. None of the units has a permit from either the BMC or the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).

Illegal units create pollution hell for Chandivali residents

Since 2017, residents of the township, which has over 5,000 houses, have written umpteen letters to the authorities to shut down the heavily polluting illegal units. However, no action has been taken and the units continue to emit toxic smoke.

Mahadev Shinde, assistant municipal commissioner of L Ward, when questioned, said the BMC had initiated action against the units, sent them notices and also taken legal action against them. “We will now take action as soon as the police protection we have requested is provided to us,” he said.

When HT visited a housing society in the area on Tuesday, there were factories continuously emitting thick smoke that wafted across from the informal settlement located opposite the society. The smoke was so dense that visibility in the area was very limited. The illegal units are surrounded by hills on two sides and housing societies on the other two. Due to the barrier of the hills, all the smoke drifts into the residential areas.

Sunder Lal Dhingra, retired professor from IIT Bombay, was one of the residents who initiated the fight in 2017 to shut down the illegal establishments. “However, all the authorities have only given us verbal assurances. I don’t think they will ever act on this,” said Dhingra.

Retired engineer Arun Kumar Srivastava is now leading the fight and following up with the authorities regularly to get them to act. “A few years ago, the BMC and MPCB had put up vans in our building to measure the air quality index (AQI) in the area,” he said. “But when the van was set up, the factories were surprisingly shut. The monsoon season also ensured good air quality. There is no point in all this paperwork if there is no action on-ground. We want these heavy emissions to stop.”

In 2017, MPCB, after conducting a joint visit to the area with the BMC, had directed L ward to take action against the illegal establishments via a letter dated 30th October 2017. Following this, it wrote another letter listing 21 establishments which were causing heavy pollution, and ordered 18 of these to shut whilst asking for some modifications to the other three.

“There are several unauthorised galas and temporary sheds… located in the slums of this area. The said unauthorised galas and temporary sheds there are farsan-manufacturing units and aluminum-smelting units, which were found in operation. It was observed that these units are using wood and coal as fuel for operation of their bhattis. The farsan is made in large kadhais and wood is used as fuel for the bhatti. It was also observed that the said units have not provided any air pollution control systems to avoid (sic) the fugitive emissions from the bhattis. The aluminium-smelting units are using wood and coal as their bhattis; they have also not provided any air pollution system,” read the order by MPCB, directing BMC to shut these establishments.

Swadeep Patil, a resident of the area, told HT that many residents suffered from constant coughs and headaches because of the pollution. “Even I have a perennial cough because of these never-ending emissions,” he said. “We, at the Swachh Chandivali Association, want the MPCB and BMC to put up a permanent AQI monitoring station in the area and publish regular reports on their website. It will prove how residents are suffering every day.”

Patil added that Nahar Amrit Shakti was awarded the cleanest housing society in Mumbai under the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2022. “If we can keep our housing society clean,” he questioned, “why can’t the BMC and MPCB help us keep the environment of our area clean?”