The gram panchayat employees were caught in the act by Stalin D, an environmentalist who heads the NGO Vanashakti.
Alarmed at tonnes of garbage being openly dumped and burnt daily on a river bank by Manor Grampanchayat around 90 kilometers away from Mumbai, which is causing contamination of Vaitarna river, environmentalists have asked Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to initiate immediate action.
As per officials from Manor Grampanchayat daily around 10 tonnes of garbage was being dumped at the banks of the river as they did not have a permanent site for dumping ground.
As per environmentalist Stalin D who is also the Director Conservation for NGO Vanashakti it was while on his way to Palghar he found garbage being burnt and decided to investigate. “I was horrified to see that the bank of a river near Manor junction on the route towards Palghar had been illegally converted into a dumping ground. Not only garbage was being dumped but was also being set on fire by Grampanchayat employees along the floodplains of river Haath, which is a tributary of Vaitarna river,” he said adding that such smoke can cause dangerous fatal illnesses like cancer, respiratory illnesses and heart problems.
“It’s surprising that it was being allowed to continue even as the leachate from this along with all the toxins from the garbage and burnt plastic waste was ending up in the river threatening the biodiversity of the river and those using its water for drinking, which was a matter of concern,” Stalin said adding that MPCB should send notice to the grampanchayat and ensure the river bank site is restored and such dumping is stopped.
As per environmentalists the act of dumping garbage along river bank and burning it was a serious violation of environmental rules as well as Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2000 and the Maharashtra Non-Biodegradable Garbage Control act and it was strange that MPCB officials were allowing this polluting act to continue.
Meanwhile expressing their own problems, Kaif Shakeel Rais, Deputy Sarpanch for Manor grampanchayat shared 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 continuous pleas forest department, Tehsildar office has failed to allocate a land despite showing them a vacant land,” he added.
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 "Garbage dumped along Haath river Manor")
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