MUMBAI: Residents of
Utan in Bhayander (west) are gearing up for a massive agitation next month against the dumping and burning of garbage in the open by the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (
MBMC).
Villagers plan to come on the streets and prevent the garbage trucks from proceeding to the
dumping ground in Utan on May 1.
In September 2009, villagers had blocked the road leading to the dumping site, forcing the police to lathi-charge the crowd.
Following the protest, the solid waste management plant at Dhagvi village in Utan was shut down. Since then the municipality has been scouting for land to dump its waste. The Mira-Bhayander region generates over 450 tonnes of waste daily.
As of now, the daily waste is dumped on a 31.46 hectare open plot belonging to the Thane collectorate. Residents have complained of foul smell, contamination of well water and farm produce as the wastes are burned without processing it.
The National Green Tribunal had pulled up the municipality for failing to dispose its wastes scientifically.
A recycling plant at Versova on the Ghodbunder Road in Thane was rejected by the central government due to its proximity to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Villagers said that the May 1 agitation will be bigger that the September 2009 protest.
