Deonar Dumping Ground Fire : Toxic Fumes From Fire Choke Locals

MUMBAI: The Deonar dumping ground, the city’s wasteland for nine decades but now a burning threat, is about to be shut. The Centre on Wednesday, at a meeting of the Union environment minister and a civic team led by BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta, directed the corporation to close the dump in three months. At the same time, a two-member probe panel set up by the ministry on the Deonar issue has recommended that criminal charges be pressed against the BMC for not treating garbage before dumping.In a tweet about the meeting, the minister, Prakash Javadekar, wrote, "In wake of recent fires in #Deonar garbage dumping site, discussed short, medium & long-measures for effective integrated waste management."Javadekar said he has told the BMC not to go for a piecemeal approach on waste disposal and look at an integrated waste management solution. “The BMC will submit to me in 10 days a midterm and long-term plan and we will review progress and implementation quarterly. Tata Consultancy Services have been roped in to suggest an integrated waste management system for the dump instead of taking up waste to energy, waste to compost projects on piecemeal basis. They will submit their report in a month.”Besides Deonar, the city has two more dumps, in Mulund and Kanjurmarg. In January, the state government handed over to the BMC land in Airoli and Taloja in Navi Mumbai for new dumping sites, but both have encroachments that the BMC is yet to remove.The plan is to close Deonar on the lines of the Gorai dumping ground. The 19.8-hectare yard was scientifically closed in 2007 after channelling methane gas into 40 wells, constructed for the purpose, and flaring it. A concrete wall was constructed around it to prevent leachate from draining into the creek; a stormwater network was made to drain the leachate into a processing tank. The garbage mounds were covered with impermeable polyethylene sheets to prevent rainwater seepage. After decomposition, the residue was removed. Today, Gorai is a green space. Experts say such an outcome is also possible for the 132-hectare Deonar dump.The BMC also has the alternative to remove the Deonar garbage and either process it scientifically at Airoli and Taloja or incinerate it there.A source said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been given a presentation on an incinerator. “We can install the machine at the Deonar dump to incinerate a part of the extant waste so that the height of the garbage mound can be brought down. The ash can be mixed with soil.”The Centre, state and the BMC will coordinate to ensure the dump’s closure, said a source associated with the effort. The Bombay high court had given the BMC time till June 2017 to close Deonar. A source said the haste is on account of the latest spate of fires, the effects of which can be felt in the municipal elections slated for February next year.Speaking about the other dumping grounds, Javadekar said, “The Mulund site is also to be closed. Tenders will be invited in 15 days.”