Manor Grampanchayat whose responsibilities also include conservation of water bodies, is itself dumping and burning tonnes of garbage on the banks of river Vaitarna. Alarmed, environmentalists have asked Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to instigate immediate action.

The gram panchayat employees were caught in the act by Stalin D, an environmentalist who heads the NGO Vanashakti. "I was horrified to see that the bank of a river has turned into an illegal dumping ground. Open burning of garbage along the floodplains of river Haath, which is a tributary of Vaitarna made the situation worse. The river is the primary source of drinking water for people in the area; dumping activities are polluting their water resource," he said adding that smoke can cause a variety of health effects, including cancer, respiratory illnesses, and heart problems and MPCB should send a notice to the gram panchayat and put a stop on such activities.

As per environmentalists, the act of dumping garbage along the river bank and burning it is a serious violation of environmental rules as well as Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2000 and the Maharashtra Non-Biodegradable Garbage Control Act.

Due to lack of dumping ground, around 10 tonnes of garbage is being dumped at the banks of the river daily, said officials from Manor Grampanchayat.

Meanwhile expressing their own problems, Kaif Shakeel Rais, Deputy Sarpanch for Manor Grampanchayat said that they have been writing to tehsildar since 2017 asking for a permanent site for dumping ground. "We understand the concerns of pollution but have no place to dump the garbage. Despite our pleas, forest department and Tehsildar office have failed to allocate land for the purpose despite having a vacant land," he added.