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Garbage trucks will be blocked if dumping does not stop within a month: MIT Pro-Chancellor
MIT ADT University warns to block garbage trucks if dumping near Mula-Mutha river doesn't stop in a month, citing health risks after a recent fire.
PUNE: Four days after heaps of garbage along the Mula-Mutha river caught fire, sending thick plumes of smoke across Loni Kalbhor and leading to hospitalisation of students, pro-chancellor of MIT ADT University, Mangesh Karad, issued an ultimatum saying that the university will block garbage vehicles/trucks if dumping does not stop within a month.
Karad told Hindustan Times, “The institution has repeatedly appealed to villagers and authorities to halt dumping along the riverbed but has seen no concrete action.”
“Our campus is located near two to three villages. We have repeatedly requested the villagers not to dump garbage in the river. However, more than 35 trucks bring unsegregated waste daily and dump it there. Neither the district administration nor the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) is taking responsibility,” Karad said.
“When this waste is burned, it releases poisonous gases. We have warned them several times. If this does not stop within a month, we will be forced to block the vehicles from entering. We cannot allow the health of our students and staff to be compromised. Despite regulations from the Green Tribunal and the Pollution Control Board, the dumping continues. If authorities fail to act, we will have no option but to physically stop these vehicles,” Karad said.
The warning comes on the back of a major fire that broke out February 26 morning amid heaps of garbage allegedly dumped along the Mula-Mutha riverbed at Loni Kalbhor in Haveli taluka. Dense smoke engulfed nearby residential areas and the MIT campus, causing severe breathing difficulties, eye irritation and throat discomfort among residents and students.
The university houses nearly 20,000 students, including around 5,000 hostel residents and 1,000 staff members living on campus. Five students were hospitalised late Friday night after experiencing respiratory distress as the fire intensified and toxic fumes spread across the locality. Arnav Kushesh from MIT, said, “The smoke ended up covering the entire campus and even reached our room. My nostrils were burning from inhaling it. The entire area was engulfed in smoke, and there was no way to escape. This was very irresponsible on the government’s part.”
Fire brigade teams battled the blaze for several hours on Friday but the flames refused to die down, necessitating continuation of operations into Sunday. The thick smoke reduced visibility on the Pune-Solapur highway during the early hours, affecting vehicular movement. As a precautionary measure, the university declared a holiday, and a local company suspended operations for the day.
Mahesh Chopde, registrar of MIT ADT University, termed the situation as ‘extremely serious’ and said that the institute has formally escalated the matter to multiple authorities. “Mountains of garbage have accumulated in the riverbed and frequent fires are causing severe respiratory problems among students. The district administration must intervene immediately, halt illegal dumping, and allocate land for a waste management project,” Chopde said. “The situation along the riverbed has reached a critical stage, posing serious health risks to our students and the local community. Despite repeated incidents, the dumping and burning of garbage continues unchecked. Immediate and coordinated action is needed before the damage becomes irreversible,” Chopde said. He added that letters have been sent to several key officials, including the then guardian minister of Pune Ajit Pawar; Union minister of state for Jal Shakti Bhushan Choudhary; MPCB (Pune); principal secretary of the environment department at Mantralaya, Mumbai; CEO of the Zilla Parishad Pune; and BDO of the Panchayat Samiti, Haveli.
Chittranjan Gaikwad, former sarpanch of Kadamwakvasti, said that proposals seeking land for a solid waste management project have been pending for nearly a decade. “For the past 10 years, we have been requesting land for a proper garbage management project and have even held discussions with corporate social responsibility (CSR) companies. However, due to cancellation of the development plan (DP) by the PMRDA, we could not obtain land. As a result, villagers continue to dump waste in the river,” he said. Gaikwad claimed that people collecting recyclable materials such as metal often set fire to garbage to extract valuable items. “The recent fire was caused by such activity. This is the second such incident with the first occurring about a year ago. This time however, it is far more severe,” Gaikwad said. Flagging a serious safety concern, he added, “Our village is close to facilities of Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation. If a fire spreads near those installations, it could cause major damage to both villages.”
Environmental activists have warned that unchecked dumping and repeated burning are contributing not only to severe air pollution but also to the contamination of river water, threatening aquatic life and further degrading the ecological health of the region. With the pro-chancellor’s one-month ultimatum now on record, pressure has mounted on district authorities and planning bodies to urgently allocate land for a waste management facility and halt the direct dumping of waste into rivers before this fire triggers a larger public health or environmental disaster.
