Breaching rules, NMC turns 10 city spots into ‘dumping yards’

Nagpur: On one hand, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is penalizing litterbugs in the name of ensuring cleanliness and on the other its officials have turned 10 locations in the city into ‘dumping grounds’ by throwing solid waste there, violating the garbage disposal norms.
Following a series of reports by TOI about tree debris also being mixed with other garbage to inflate weight, the NMC’s solid waste management (SWM) department had woken up from deep slumber and directed the two garbage collection operators — BVG India and AG Enviro Infra Projects — not to lift uprooted and chopped trees, branches and leaves. Since then, NMC’s vehicles are lifting this waste.
However, the NMC officials have started using civic land in each of the 10 zones to dump the tree debris, instead of transporting it to Bhandewadi dumping yard, which is centralized yard developed and operated by the civic body for the entire city.
NMC’s Laxmi Nagar zone has started dumping the waste on a portion of the London Street Project’s land adjacent to Jaitala mutton market. Huge quantum of uprooted and felled trees and branches have been dumped by the zone officials at this place. Immediately thereafter, builders, developers and other residents also started to dump garbage, construction and demolition waste at this spot.
Because of this, the residents in the nearby areas have to endure stench emanating from the place, mosquito, stray dog and cattle menace.
Similarly, Dharampeth zone officials are dumping trees debris near the Government Veterinary College.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Abhijit Jha told TOI, “The dumping ground created by the zone is causing various types of pollutions. Stench emanating from the dumping ground is affecting all residential localities in the radius of over 500 metres. Following the civic officials’ footsteps, people have also started dumping waste at the spot. The NMC should immediately stop using the spot as a dumping yard.”
Leena Buddhe from NGO Centre for Sustainable Development said, “The NMC is responsible ensuring cleanliness in the city and the civic body itself is spreading garbage here and there. It is a severe violation of SWM Rules related to conservation of air and water. NMC is supposed to ensure zero waste on daily basis.”
“The civic body has developed a centralized dumping yard at Bhandewadi where it should treat entire garbage collected daily. Very less quantity of waste is generated after treatment which has to be scientifically disposed of in landfill site developed at the dumping yard,” she said.
Buddhe added the NMC can easily manufacture compost for plantations from the tree debris instead of dumping it in the open. “It is also the responsibility of the NMC not to transport wet and green waste into the dumping yard. It will not only save money but also prevent pollution, save land and ensure reuse of this waste in a proper manner. We have given many such suggestions to the NMC, but the officials are interested in paying money to the garbage operators,” she said.
The situation is no different in the remaining eight zones, where the civic officials have identified areas for dumping of uprooted and felled trees and branches and created unauthorized dumping yards increasing pollution in the areas manifold.
NMC officials claimed they are dumping this type of waste in low-lying areas to fill the dips. “We will take action in case anyone is found dumping garbage there,” they said.