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Residents fighting illegal cement plants in Malad

Prolonged campaigning compels Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to order closure of illegal RMC plant

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People protesting at the cement plant site in Malad
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Save Save Our Land team, Watchdog Foundation and Marve Road Residents Association’s campaign against illegal Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) plants in Malwani have forced the authorities to take action. Three RMC plants that were set up a few years ago in Malad’s Malwani area had become the bane of the residents. Not only were these plants illegal, they were also creating health-related problems for the residents living nearby. 

Violation of rules
Since the past one year, locals in the area had been corresponding with the ward and other authorities. However, despite writing several letters to the authorities, no action had been taken against these plants. Godfrey Pimenta of Watchdog Foundation shares, “These three RMC plants were affecting the health of a lot of people in the vicinity. According to the guidelines of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), you cannot set up these plants within a radius of 500m of human habitation. So, we gave the board 48 hours to work on this and the authorities finally succumbed to the pressure.” The board ordered the closure of one plant and it has been dismantled completely. The other two are still there, though not functioning anymore. An FIR has also been filed against the plants as well as the BMC and the board for not taking action.

Consequences for health
The residents of Malwani have been suffering for the past one year due to the pollution that emanated from the plants, which continuously generated high levels of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) and suspended particulate matter that was beyond permissible limits. These plants were also known to generate high levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia NH3.
Dolphy D’souza of Save Save Our Land shares, “Our demand was to completely dismantle all three plants but so far only one has been closed down. We plan to pursue this further and we will follow up for the dismantling of the remaining two plants.” 

A letter addressed to the authorities by the Watchdog Foundation mentions that residents living around the plants were forced to shut their windows for the fear of falling ill. Locals suffering from asthma and bronchospasm were the worst affected because of the pollution emanating from the said plants. Several residents have complained of lung-related ailments. The children of the said locality are also suffering from breathing problems. 

Environment at risk
These plants were flouting several norms under the Water and Air Pollution Act. More so, the plants are located close to the mangroves, which are protected forests. These mangroves have been declared as one of the 38 national mangrove sites in India by the Ministry of Environment Forests & Climate Change. The three associations plan to take this up again until the remaining two plants are also shut down. 

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