Ramdas Kadam tells BMC to shut down Gorai waste centre

Mumbai: After a dumping ground, a waste collection centre at Gorai might also be closed down due to complaints from locals.

In a jolt to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), state environment minister Ramdas Kadam has directed the civic body to close down its waste collection centre at Gorai dumping ground and shift it elsewhere.

The directives have put civic officials, who have already been battling with growing garbage problem in the city, in a quandary.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), which comes under the environment ministry, has written a letter to the BMC asking the civic solid waste management department to shut down the waste collection centre at Gorai dumping ground as per the directives of Mr Kadam.

Following the complaints of locals, the BMC had, eight years ago, closed down the dumping ground at Gorai. The solid waste collection centre at Gorai collects 400 metric tonnes of garbage from nearby areas and sends it to dump sites. The civic body has also planned to set up a new solid waste disposal plant at the centre.

However, locals have complained against the centre, saying it inconvenienced them. Taking note of their grievances, Mr Kadam held a meeting in his chamber on May 30 to discuss the issue and even visited the site the next day.

However, the minister’s directives have further added to the woes of SWM officials, who are already facing the wrath of high court for failing to deal with rising garbage problems in the city. “The BMC has sought extension of another four months to act on the directives for the centre. We just cannot shut it down in the middle of the monsoon. Where will the garbage be dumped? If we dump it somewhere else, locals there will agitate against it. To mitigate the problem, we are trying to reduce the centre’s collection capacity by half,” said a senior official.