Deonar row: Chembur residents scoff at civic body’s efforts

When you tell the residents of Chembur that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is doing what it can to curb the fumes at Deonar dumping ground, they are very likely to scoff at you in disbelief.

Their reaction can be attributed to the difference between what the civic body says and what really happens, they say.

“I am suspicious about what the BMC says. While the daily intake capacity of the Deonar ground is 2,000 metric tonnes, it receives close to 6,000 tonnes of refuse. How will it be possible to lay gas collection pipelines?” says Rajkumar Sharma, chief of a Chembur-based residents’ association, advanced locality management and networking action committee (ALMANAC).

Sharma adds that he doubted BMC’s claim of having completed 45% of the closure of the dump. “They keep claiming anything. The reality is it is the civic body is responsible for the mess we locals are left to face,” Sharma says.

Apart from residents, public representatives have slammed the corporation for its inaction in this regard. Rais Sheikh, member of BMC’s standing committee and Samajwadi Party (SP) group leader, seconded the ALMANAC chief said the present situation could lead to something of the magnitude of the Bhopal gas tragedy.

“Deonar is following in the steps of Bhopal. People are exposed to several health and other problems. We have been raising concerns over the issue for a very long time, but no one  is listening,” Sheikh says.