Biomedical waste plant will be shifted from Deonar in 13 months after green nod, HC told

The civic contractor, SMS Envoclean Pvt Ltd, on Wednesday, told the division bench of acting chief justice Nitin Jamdar and justice Arif Doctor that the process for development permission for Atkargaon in Khalapur tehsil, Raigad, was pending before the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC)

Mumbai: A contractor informed the Bombay high court that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) biomedical waste treatment plant at Deonar will be shifted to either near Khalapur or Patalganga MIDC area in Raigad district within 13 months of obtaining environmental clearance.

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The civic contractor, SMS Envoclean Pvt Ltd, on Wednesday, told the division bench of acting chief justice Nitin Jamdar and justice Arif Doctor that the process for development permission for Atkargaon in Khalapur tehsil, Raigad, was pending before the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

The company’s affidavit added that it will also have to obtain environmental clearance and after obtaining the clearance “the plant will be relocated at the new site within 13 months.”

The affidavit added that the company is also making “sincere efforts” for allotment of land at Patalganga-Borivali, MIDC area in Raigad district where there would be no requirement of public hearing and where infrastructure facilities such as electricity, water, road and telecom are easily available. The company has also maintained that “the existing operational facility at Deonar is operating as per BMW (Biomedical Waste) Rules, 2016 and associated guidelines and complying with all statutory requirements pertaining to the same.”

SMS Envoclean filed the affidavit in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society for shifting the biomedical waste treatment plant to some other location, claiming that toxic emissions from the plant were posing a threat to the lives of the residents. The petitioner society has also sought directions from Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to impose appropriate environmental compensation on the firm.

MPCB, which has already granted approval for shifting the facility to Raigad in 2020, has claimed that sufficient water and air pollution control systems have been installed at the facility and the results of pollution monitoring showed that the emissions were within prescribed limits and thus the grievances of the petitioner society had been addressed.

The PIL is being heard along with a petition filed by SMS Envoclean, challenging MPCB’s order of July 6, 2019, directing the closure of the biomedical waste treatment plant. The high court on July 18, 2019, stayed the MPCB order.