A Day After TOI Expose, More Reports Surface Of Malfunctioning Machines At A
Swanky Malad Complex Built On Top Of Toxic Garbage.
Shalini Nair
A leading computer brand has revealed that a majority of its
complaints in Mumbai come from IT and BPO offices located at the Mindspace
complex in Malad, which is built in and around a now-shut civic dumping
ground.
Garbage from the now-defunct Malad dumping ground was used to fill up
marshland on which office buildings, a mall and residential housing was
built. TOI reported on Monday (April 2) how corrosive and toxic gases from
the garbage has led to the incessant crashing of computers, air-conditioners
and other electrical and electronic equipment at the Mindspace complex. Some
offices have reportedly shut and moved out of the area.
The garbage at the Malad dump was never treated or stabilised during the
site’s closure.
“We have been getting an extraordinary number of maintenance calls from
customers in Mindspace, and the replacements are as high as 80% as compared
to the standard failure rates of 2% to 5%. The number of calls from
Mindspace alone accounts for the most complaints in Mumbai,” said one of
the many partners for the multinational brand which did not want its
identity to be disclosed.
Fed up with the constant complaints, the company was forced to hire the
services of a Singapore-based environment consultant. The computer spare
parts were tested in US and Australian laboratories and the tests revealed
that high levels of sulphuric gases in the air were corroding the
motherboards, hard disks, RAMs and other computer parts. The company has now
issued written documents to all its corporate clients in Mindspace stating
that considering the frequency and number of complaints, it can afford to
attend to only 20% of the complaints in a year.
“Some companies are not willing to accept our argument and have even
threatened legal cases if we do not entertain their warranty calls,” said
the partner.
A senior level official from a BPO service provider, which occupies an
entire building and over 5,000 computers at Mindspace, said they have had 15
to 20 computers crashing every day for the past three years. “Our
airconditioning plants, which are supposed to run for 15 years, would break
down within a few months. It was not until we got the soil and the creek
water tested that we realised that the sulphuric gases were the cause of all
problems,’ he told TOI.
Most companies that roped in private consultants were advised to fit
sulphur filters, which require an investment of crores for installation
alone. In addition, there are high operation and replacement costs. “If we
switched off the filter even for a day, the computers would start crashing
all over again over the next couple of days. Initially, many companies
bought their offices in Mindspace as it seemed a lucrative option in the
suburbs, but a couple were forced to shift due to such problems,” said an
official from one of the older BPO service providers whose office is located
in Mindspace.
CONCRETE DREAMS TURN TOXIC: Offices and a mall were built on garbage from a
nearby dump that was used to fill up marshland in Malad