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Kadamvakvasti Gram Sabha passes resolution to tackle garbage crisis
Students gathered outside the main gate of the university and blocked tractors carrying garbage, preventing them from entering the campus area and proceeding towards the riverbed.
PUNE: Amid the ongoing student agitation against garbage dumping in the Mula-Mutha riverbed near the MIT Art, Design and Technology University campus, the Kadamvakvasti gram panchayat on Saturday passed a resolution to address the issue of waste management and proposed setting up of a solid waste treatment project.
The student agitation against the dumping of garbage in the Mula-Mutha riverbed intensified on Friday after nearly 6,000 students of the MIT Art, Design and Technology University renewed their ‘garbage bandh’ protest when the deadline given to the local gram panchayat expired without concrete action.
Students gathered outside the main gate of the university and blocked tractors carrying garbage, preventing them from entering the campus area and proceeding towards the riverbed. According to protesters, large quantities of waste continue to be dumped daily along the river, raising serious environmental and health concerns.
The protest had been temporarily suspended earlier after students gave the local authority and gram panchayat time to resolve the issue. However, as no visible action was taken within the stipulated period, the students resumed their agitation demanding an immediate halt to dumping of garbage in the riverbed.
Amid the growing agitation, Haveli block development officer (BDO) Shekhar Shelar on March 13 issued a letter to the Lonikand and Kadamvakvasti gram panchayats regarding the solid waste management issue. He said that “improper garbage management in these peri-urban villages had created serious sanitation and health concerns, and emphasised the need for coordination between local agencies and gram panchayats to find a sustainable solution”.
The BDO also convened a meeting on March 16 at the Panchayat Samiti office in Haveli to discuss solid waste management and plan corrective measures.
In a fresh development, the Kadamvakvasti gram panchayat on Saturday held a gram sabha to discuss the issue and passed a resolution outlining interim and long-term measures for garbage management.
Former sarpanch Chittaranjan Gaikwad said that the “Gram panchayat has decided to develop an independent solid waste management project for the village. We have basic government land where the project will be set up. The tehsildar has assured us that the space will be made available. At the site, garbage will be segregated into seven categories and wet waste will be converted into compost,” he said.
Gaikwad added that the gram panchayat has resolved that no plastic waste from Kadamvakvasti will be dumped outside the village limits once the project becomes operational.
According to officials, the gram panchayat has also decided to temporarily send garbage to the Hadapsar waste treatment plant until a permanent facility is developed.
The gram panchayat has written to district authorities proposing a 2.5-acre plot for constructing a solid waste treatment plant.
Student representatives said that they would continue the agitation until concrete action is implemented on the ground.
