Toxic fumes from Deonar Dump killing many in Ghatkopar & Chembur

The BMC planned the closure of the ground more than a decade after the Smoke Affected Residents Forum (SARF) moved court against the BMC for not curbing the menace of the dumping ground.

When the BMC failed to comply with the court's directives, SARF, in 2008, filed a contempt case against the civic chief, calling the dumping ground's continued existence a violation of human rights.

The Deonar dumping ground singly accommodates the entire waste of Mumbai and has already exceeded its limit, especially after two other dumping grounds were recently shut down also for being overburdened.

A stunning 8000 tonnes of waste is brought to the Deonar dumping ground everyday — that's the entire volume of waste that Mumbai generates in a day.

Dr Neelam Rane who is also a resident at Chembur says, "It's been 13 long years and the BMC have not followed its affidavit, they have done nothing."

Dr. Kumar Doshi ENT specialist who reside in Garodia Nagar and practices in Ghatkopar says that " cases of Asthma, Bronchitis, COPD has seen such an upsurge that even the text books of medicines don't show such a rapid rise, we are seeing so many cases, and now we are seeing fatalities, every winter if you just see the BMC dead registry and you will see more and more deaths due to respiratory causes".

Watch the 2008 NDTV news clip on the protests by the SARF to shut the dumping ground.

Both the bureaucrats and elected representatives are responsible for playing with citizens’ lives , the recently elected MP Sanjay Dina Patil had promised that he will ensure the timely and systematic closure of the site, but like all election gimmicks nothing much has been achieved.

We the residents of Chembur , Ghatkopar & those effected area are to be blamed more for this mess, as Dr. Sandeep Rane says " the residents want to suffer, dont' want to take action or come together for the cause, all they do is talk in some hushed manner & go home".

Honestly this is the fact, residents have to unite & stand up against the BMC & government. Take the case of two other dumping grounds at Malad and Gorai that were shut down 3 years ago long after exceeding their capacity and after some strong protests from the residents there.

The TOXIC fumes are slowly killing the new born, i personally know 3 kids who are suffering from sever asthma and many more residents from respiratory problems.

Request all the residents to come together to fight this menace and also help by practising proper Dry Wet garbage disposal methods.

Delayed sewer plan will drain Garodia Nagar Ghatkopar locals of Rs 2.95 cr

The Con game of BMC 

Article that came in the Times of India - Mumbai April 26, 2010

Mumbai: Residents of Garodia Nagar in Ghatkopar are upset with the BMC,which has asked them to pay Rs 2.95 crore within 15 days for the revamp of the drainage system in the area.The people alleged that the civic body had pushed back the project as a result of which the cost had escalated and so they were being compelled to pay such a high amount.

The assistant assessor and collector,N ward,served the demand notice to the Garodia Nagar Welfare Federation (GNWF) recently,asking them to collect the amount from all the housing societies.In its notice,the civic body said the consolidated amount of Rs 2,95,34,178 was being sought as the residents share1 /3rd of the costfor the laying of a sewerage in the area.

The residents moved court after a series of inspections by civic officials confirmed that the drains in Garodia Nagar were dysfunctional,which led to the spilling of the waste into the precincts of a few other buildings.In August,2004,as an interim arrangement to reconstruct the drains,the Bombay high court directed the BMC to collect the residents share.

GNWF secretary G T Jadeja said,In December 2004,following our correspondence,the BMC informed us that the total cost of the project will be Rs 3.19 crore.Since then,we have been asking them to show us the break-up of the amount to be shared by housing societies.

Now,after all these years,they suddenly want nearly Rs 3 crore,almost equivalent to the entire project cost,going by the 2004 rates. Residents said they were being forced to shell out extra because the BMC took so much time.Had the work started in 2004,the residents would have had to pay only Rs 1 crore as their share, Jadeja said.Owing to the BMCs delay,the project cost has now increased to around Rs 9 crore.Why should the residents bear the brunt when the civic body itself pushed back the date.

There are 155 housing societies in the locality,of which 131 are affiliated to the GNWF.KVR Warrier,another member of the federation said,Each society will have to pay something between Rs 70,000 and Rs 3 lakh,depending on the size of their plot.My housing society,with 30 members,has been asked to pay Rs 2,25,000.

Jadeja said the court had pointed out that the 1/3rd share was an interim arrangement and in the final order it would be determined who would have to bear the entire cost.He added,The BMC has carried out similar projects with money from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission fund.They should do the same for this project.

B Shirshat,local corporator,however,said,The residents need not pay any amount as the sewage problem has been sorted out. Disagreeing with Shirshat,Jadeja said,The problem still persists as the sewage from several societies still runs into the stormwater drains,which are covered and cannot be seen from outside. Additional municipal commissioner Anil Diggikar said,I am not aware of the issue. 

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