BMC in the dumps over excess garbage, asks MMRDA for 100-acre plot

While the city is taking rapid strides in terms of expansion, it is also generating copious amounts of garbage which the BMC is finding very difficult to tackle. With its three dumping grounds at Deonar, Kanjurmarg and Mulund very close to reaching their optimum capacities, the BMC has demanded that the MMRDA, the government body responsible for the city's infrastructure, allot it a 100-acre plot to accommodate the excess waste.

Mayor Sunil Prabhu confirmed that he made this demand during an MMRDA meeting headed by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Friday.

"Given Mumbai's expansion and the quantity of municipal solid waste it generates daily, the dump yards are spilling over. So I have demanded that the MMRDA allot us a plot on the city's outskirts to fulfill our future needs," Prabhu told dna. Approximately 10,000 tonnes of municipal waste is generated across the city daily.

While the civic body is working on a waste-to-energy project that will reduce the quantity of waste transported to dumping yards, Prabhu said the prospects of its success was low. "Such projects have not been successful. We are setting it up on a trial basis. So we will have to look for another plot to manage our future needs. If the government agrees, we will also have to set up a transfer station from where garbage can be transported to new yard," said the mayor.
Prabhu said that Chavan had assured them that he would look into the demand.