After massive fire, villagers oppose shifting of Deonar dumping site

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will soon hold a meeting with all concerned agencies and stakeholders to sort out the issue of Deonar dumping site at the earliest even as villagers around the proposed landfill site located in Taloja, Navi Mumbai have opposed the shifting of the site there. Speaking to reporters here at his Mantralaya office on Tuesday, Minister of State for Urban Development Dr Ranjit Patil said the government will soon hold a meeting with all the concerned agencies to sort out the issue at the earliest. “No village would want a dumping site neat its periphery. I have heard that gram sabhas near Taloja are opposing the move of shifting of Deonar dumping zone in that area and are passing resolutions in this regard. Government will soon hold a meeting to resolve the issue,” Patil said. [caption id=“attachment_2610410” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Deonar dumping site. Image courtesy: Solaris[/caption] He admitted that the Deonar landfill site has already crossed its capacity. State Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya has said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was proactively concerned of the issue and that the issue would be sorted out. When asked about using the solid waste generated to generate power, Kshatriya said that there were some proposals from the industries on using the solid waste to generate power. Meanwhile, workers of Mumbai NCP unit led by its president Sachin Ahir held a demonstration against the continuation of the site at Deonar yesterday. At the demonstration, Ahir said the issue has assumed alarming proportions. “The previous Congress-NCP regime had constituted a committee comprising former BMC municipal commissioner Sharad Kale and experts like Ajit Jain and BMC officials. What action was taken on the findings of the committee?” he questioned. Residents since last Thursday faced a tough time after a fire at the Deonar dumping ground created a thick blanket of smog causing serious breathing and health problems to them. PTI