‘List steps taken to tackle Kanjur dump pollution’

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday directed the civic body and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to spell out the steps they have taken to comply with pollution norms at the dumping ground in Kanjurmarg .
Expressing concern at the MPCB’s submission that the deficiencies at the dumping ground could have “disastrous consequences”, a division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Girish Kulkarni rapped the BMC over its failure to act.“We direct the MPCB and BMC to place on record detailed report regarding measures to safeguard the interest of the general public,” said the judges.
“We direct the corporation to place on record the measures they have already undertaken to restrain the problems indicated in the showcause notice given by the pollution control board. It is needless to mention that MPCB must take its showcause notice to the logical end and compel the BMC to comply with the directions wherein the measures are indicated,” added the judges.
The high court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on March 6. In its notices, the MPCB has confirmed the odour in the vicinity of the dumping ground as well as said that the particulate matter in the atmosphere is higher than norms. MPCB’s lawyer pointed out to the court that the board had already issued notices to the BMC “indicating deficits in maintaining the dumping ground/landfill site near Kanjurmarg leading to disastrous results, which would affect the large population”.
The court was hearing petitions filed by Kannamwar housing society association and NGO Vanashakti about the violation of pollution norms at the dumping ground. Advocates Madhav Jamdar and Abhijit Rane, counsel for the association, pointed out that a residential colony was located just a few hundred metres from the boundary of the dumping ground and residents had complained about the pollution.
The BMC has said that it was operating the dumping ground on 65.96 hectares of land in Kanjurmarg with a 500m buffer zone around it. In an affidavit filed earlier before the high court, the civic body had said that it had put in place a “flaring system” and was using a bio enzyme-based deodrant to tackle the problem of odour from the dumping ground. It had further installed a misting system on bio-reactor cells to reduce the foul smell and the site is also covered by soil, the corporation had stated. While Kanjurmarg takes in around 3,000 metric tonnes of waste, the state had in 2016 approved an increase in its capacity to 10,000 metric tonnes.