Terminally ill bear brunt of Gorai ‘transit dump’

Inmates At Shelter Suffer Stench, BMC Says No Alternative For Now

    The BMC has been dumping garbage right at the doorstep of a shelter for mentally and physically challenged and terminally ill destitutes, next to a closed dumpyard, on a plot it says is a ‘transit site’ for small dumpers.
    Incidentally, the BMC recently announced a zero-garbage drive from October, in which it planned to make wards garbage-free. But for more than two years now, BMC’s garbage trucks empty their cargo every night at a corner of what was once the Gorai dump, right next to Shanti Daan, a shelter run by the Missionaries of Charity. The shelter houses around 250 inmates abandoned by their families, who do not have the might to protest or question the civic body’s move. The patients are left at the mercy of mosquitoes and flies breeding in the garbage, not to mention the stink, all of which adds to their health complications. Many people in the shelter are completely bed-ridden. Some patients said the situation worsened at night. “We can’t sleep thanks to the noise of the dumpers all through the night,” said a volunteer. Caretakers at the shelter said they were helpless and have complained several times to the BMC.
    BMC officials have told the caretakers that the garbage is being dumped temporarily. During the day, machines are deployed at the site to level the dumped garbage, said a volunteer. B R Marathe, deputy municipal commissioner of the zone, says, “The waste is not left at the site for more than 24 hours. It is being used as both Deonar and Mulund are at a distance from this place.” Officials said the waste dumped by smaller trucks at the site is usually transported to the proper dumping grounds by bigger trucks the next day.
    A caretaker said that after the Gorai dumping ground was closed, the authorities had started its beatification. But around the same time they started to use the edge of the ground adjoining the boundary wall of the shelter to dump the garbage.

    Lazarus M C, in-charge of the shelter said, “The patients living here are brought from the street where they live in very bad and unhygienic conditions. All of them were dumped by their families. They have several health
complications and we wish to provide them better surroundings, but feel sorry as here too they are forced to live in an surrounded by garbage.” He said fans and mosquito nets proved insufficient. “Sometimes we burn mosquito coils but that too can be harmful for their health,” said Lazarus.

    Shiv Sena corporator from RCentral, Sadanand Surve, said, “It is true that garbage is being dumped near Shanti Daan. The additional municipal commissioner has given permission for dumping in this area as there is no alternative at the present. It takes around four hours to reach the Deonar dumping ground. So, garbage is often not collected regularly from areas near Gorai, sparking public fury. There is no alternative till the Kanjurmarg dumping ground becomes fully operational. I initially opposed the plan but then realised there is no alternative as of now.”

GORAI CLOSURE
The BMC shut down the Gorai dump, after a Supreme Court directive, at a cost of 37 crore. A huge area outside the dump was dug out and the bottom of the pit was compacted with six to 15 metres of clay. A collection of pipes was then embedded into this pit which ensured that no methane or other gases escape. The 17-hectare dump and a 33-foot-high garbage mound was this way turned into a 30-foot-high hillock covered with plastic and soil and later a garden

FAST-FILLING LANDFILLS
DUMP SITES The city has only twoand-a-half landfills at its disposal: one at Deonar, the second at Mulund and the third at Kanjurmarg, half of which has been not in use. These dump sites too are nearing the end of their life
ILLEGAL SPOTS | The BMC had identified 150 illegal dump sites on the first year of its Zero Garbage drive in May. Officials estimate the actual number to be anywhere from 300 to 500, mostly around public toilets, slums and narrow lanes
TOTAL WASTE GENERATED | Every day the city generates 6,500 tonnes of organic, recyclable and nondegradable waste
WORKERS AND MACHINERY | The BMC employs 45,000 workers and 1,100 vehicles make 1,900 trips twice a day to collect and dump waste

    MONEY | The BMC spends 572 per person annually to tackle waste BUDGET OF SOLID WASTE
    MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT 800 crore