The strong resentment against the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) brewing in the coastal areas of Uttan, over the decade long dumping menace in the region, has now taken shape of a unified agitation.
In the first step, a delegation comprising members of local social organisation’s and heads of fishing societies, under the aegis of the newly formed Dharavai Bet Jan Akrosh Morcha, has called for a day-long Uttan Bandh on 1, June.
Irate over the unbearable stench and consequent health hazard, villagers had filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal, seeking immediate shift of the waste plant and illegal dump yard in Dhaavgi.
In response to NGT directions, the MBMC filed an affidavit in the High Court affirming to shift their defunct solid waste plant to an earmarked plot in Sakvar near Vasai within a time frame of 18 months.
“Instead of following judicial orders, the civic authorities have brazenly inked a 7-year deal to restart the project. This cannot be tolerated. The bandh is a token of our protest which will be intensified, if the MBMC does stop playing mischief.” said fishing community leader Leo Collaso.
“We are committed to ensure that the recycling plant operates in a scientific manner so that people are not inconvenienced. Moreover a bio-mining mechanism will soon be adopted to get rid of the accumulated waste,” said deputy civic chief Dr Sambhaji Panpatte. Interestingly the villagers have flatly refused to send their representatives on-board the monitoring committee mooted by the MBMC.
It may be recalled a massive agitation was launched in September 2009 by restricting entry of garbage trucks to the facility for several weeks and the same formula is being contemplated by villagers if the authorities failed to end the menace in their region.