A city-based NGO, Watchdog Foundation, on Saturday filed a criminal complaint against BMC chief Ajoy Mehta and members of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) at metropolitan magistrate court, Andheri, saying that the latter had failed to stop public nuisance at the Deonar dumping ground.
Nicholas Almeida, Trustee, Watchdog Foundation, said, “The BMC and MPCB have failed and neglected to implement provisions of Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, since their enactment in 2000. Owing to non-compliance to the said rules, citizens, particularly those residing in the vicinity of the dumping ground, are facing one of the worst air pollution of its kind in recent times and there is no respite from it. If officials of MPCB and BMC were serious about solving this issue, they should have acted in a time-bound manner.”
Intermittent fires at the Deonar dumping ground have caused several health issues for residents in the neighbouring areas of Chembur, Govandi and Mankhurd. They have caused conditions unfit for habitation by residents in the vicinity. The smoke emanating from the dump has been worsening the condition of asthma patients. The fire which broke out in the Deonar dump in January caused the BMC to shut down 74 schools in the area for two days as the entire area was blanketed by smoke, leading to breathing problems for many. According to Watchdog officials, Metropolitan Magistrate, Mr Patange, has kept the said complaint for verification on May 3.
Despite repeated attempts, Mr Mehta was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.
