Dump will bring disaster…….Viju B
Greens Warn Of Consequences As Reclamation Begins To Create New Dumping Ground In Fragile Wetlands In Kanjurmarg
Greens Warn Of Consequences As Reclamation Begins To Create New Dumping Ground In Fragile Wetlands In Kanjurmarg
Mumbai: Over 141 hectares of wetlands,which form part of a fragile eco-system in Kanjurmarg,face destruction after the BMC recently began dumping debris to reclaim the area for a landfill site,say environmentalists and local residents.
While the BMC says it will not touch mangroves at the site,greens say reclaiming large portions of the land would automatically lead to the death of any untouched land there.Environmentalists and residents say a dump at this particular site would lead to an eco-disaster,as the wetland is a huge natural drainage area and an inlet to Thane creek.They also said that such a dump would lead to a recurrence of the health problems caused at Deonar and Gorai,where lakhs of people have suffered due to their proximity to dumps that were later closed.
Greens also alleged that the BMC got permission from the supreme court for the reclamation by saying that the area does not fall in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ),when it actually does.
Last week,the reclamation,one of the largest debris-dumping exercises in recent times,was on in full swing at Kanjurmarg.Trucks were dumping debris near the mangroves and truckers told TOI that they had instructions to reclaim the entire land,including the mangroves,for a landfill.
The 141.77 hectares clearly is a CRZ,as it is covered by lush green mangroves and is also a salt-pan land, said Debi Goenka,trustee of the Conservation Action Trust,which had filed an appeal in the supreme court on the issue.He claimed that civic authorities misled the apex court by stating that the area was not a CRZ.He said that satellite maps show that the area,which is part of the low-lying areas of the eastern suburbs,is one of the last few lush mangrove stretches.We need to protect this green zone,especially after the 26/7 floods, Goenka said.
He added that Union environment ministry rules say that landfills must be far from habitations,forest areas,water bodies and wetlands.Since the Kanjurmarg site is surrounded by mangroves,it is forest land as per a 2005 Bombay high court order, Goenka said.
The BMC says it has earmarked 141.77 hectares for the landfill,of which 20.76 hectares have thick mangroves and 86.72 hectares are free of mangroves.But satellite maps show that 65.96 hectares are filled with mangroves and the entire area is a wetland, said Goenka.
A senior BMC official said that the apex court has granted the civic body permission to start a landfill there.Besides we are not reclaiming the mangroves and have clearly demarcated the mangrove and non-mangrove areas, the official said.The official also said that as both the Gorai and Deonar dumping grounds have been closed,the city urgently needs a landfill to dispose of tonnes of waste.We inspected other sites and found that the Kanjurmarg site was most suitable, he said.
State environment secretary Valsa Nair Singh said a team from her department had visited the site and said that no reclamation of mangroves was in progress.However,she said that following complaints another inspection team would be sent.
Environmentalists said dumping grounds in cities abroad are far from residential localities and water bodies,as creeks,estuaries and rivers can get polluted.
The municipal authorities may incur transportation costs if they have a dumping ground far from the city,but in the long run it would benefit both citizens and the environment, said activist D Stalin.
Nandakumar Pawar,convenor of Ekvira Prathistan,said the livelihood of more than 300 fishermens families was at stake.Its bad for those who eat fish too as the fish can turn toxic if waste enters the creek, he said.
* TURNING GREEN TO GREY: Machines dump debris on the wetlands at the Kanjurmarg landfill site