#Breathless: Stop Illegal Dumping And Burning Now!

 

The city is being exposed to increasing cases of irresponsible garbage dumping and rising incidents of waste burning. This precipitates an almost instant increase in air pollutants, besides causing severe damage to the land.  

Unfortunately, the illegal dumping is now posing a serious health hazard and protests in this regard are going unheard.

Pune365 spoke to citizens and went on to seek expert opinion on the effective management of garbage and city waste.

Jaya Banerjee, Social Activist opined “It’s a burning issue for years now, garbage dumping that the PMC carries out is far from being environment-friendly. Urali Devachi and Phursungi have become dumping grounds without any concern for the villagers living there.”

The citizens, through their garbage clearance methods now have started dumping garbage at tekdis in and around Pune and there have been 30 official complaints to the PMC yet, there has been no visible impact. The administration and local politicians need to wake up from their slumber and take this issue seriously before it peaks to disastrous proportions.

The PMC Commissioner reportedly accepted that the existing garbage processing system is not fool proof and that the contractors have been cheating the PMC. They have claimed that they plan to set up plants and run them with the help of operators.

Unfortunately, they keep making plans with no concrete action.

Pune City has 25 biogas plants of which only 2 are operational. The rest are just lying idle. In a nutshell, the administration has the funds to resolve this issue, but so far it seems that they do not have the requisite resolve and determination to do so. It’s a sad state of affairs adds, Banerjee.

She further adds, “Although on an individual level we segregate waste, hotels are fined if they don’t segregate wet and dry garbage, some societies have their own composting pits, citizen awareness is present and various organization’s and NGOs are working on this cause.

However, at the end of the day, all the garbage that’s collected from the city has to be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner and following the guidelines set out by bodies like the NGT.

Banerjee also added that, “Citizens also need to stop littering at every nook and corner on the streets, it is a habit that needs to change. The Adar Poonawalla initiative has placed dustbins for both dry and wet waste across the city.

On an individual level, each one can work towards a litter-free Street and the local area they live in. And ensure their local representatives in the area does more for garbage disposal.

Rahul Walunj, Environmentalist says, “The illegal dumping and burning of garbage in many areas of the city is on the rise even though the law prohibits this. People continue it on a large scale as efficient action is not taken against the guilty.”

PMC has been asking residents to segregate their own waste yet, despite sergrgation the city is facing illegal dumping of garbage.

What is PMC doing about the waste generated from illegal stalls around in Pune? They don’t even segregate their waste and this leads to dumping and pollution when they burn the garbage.

“According to the government, garbage burning is prohibited. Even dry leaves from public parks are supposed to be put in compost it, though often we see them burning in the city. There should be a strict ban enforcement,” he adds.

A resident of Hinjewadi Karan Shah, says “ Almost everyday, I see garbage burning at various point in our area. There is no proper management for the disposal of garbage, and with many townships coming up in the area, this issue need to resolved at the earliest.

The residential population is rising in the area, thanks to the IT parks and the new townships because of which tonnes of waste is generated. It is either dumped illegally, or treated inefficiently leading to environmental pollution in the city.

“Huge fires rage every night and early morning leaving the area covered with smoke. Residents have become helpless and this dumping and burning of garbage is a threat to children and senior citizens.” He adds.

Neelam Shetty, Active citizen says, ” Dumping garbage on roadsides and empty plots is nothing new for the city. The trend is on a serious rise in the city and is increasingly becoming a major problem to the citizens. It is not only harmful to the citizens but also hinders the objective of keeping the environment clean.”

Pune is supposedly becoming a smart city, but is doing everything directly opposite to what is needed! Dumping garbage in open areas has always been a major concern for the residents, yet, no effective measures are taken by PMC.

Education, awareness and law enforcement is important for the people. Instead of spending  on cleaning the city they should impose a law on people for creating the garbage. Additionally, we need to build awareness by highlighting the adverse effects of dumping garbage, she adds.

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#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.