Mumbai: Clean-up marshals will rein in dumpers next month, says BMC

The number of daily complaints received by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos newly launched WhatsApp helpline dropped to 43 in August from 128 in June The cityrsquos streets however are as filthy as ever While garbage is picked up after citizens make complaints dumping spots arenrsquot being eliminated In response to the Part I of middayrsquos series on the issue civic officials have said they will appoint cleanup marshals next month to rein in dumping by imposing strict penaltiesChandivli an upmarket area marred by dumpingGarbage dumped on the road at tony Chandivli in Andheri EastOnce known for its industrial estates Chandivli is now a posh residential locality which is also where several corporate houses have their offices However there hasnt been much improvement in terms of infrastructure and garbage dumping continues to be an issue The civic body obliges residents when they register wasterelated complaints but days after action is taken trash piles up againMandeep Singh Makkar a founder of Chandivli Citizens Welfare Association told midday ldquoWhenever we complain they pick up the trash but the garbage is back in no time We have told them they should take steps to ensure that the entrance to a civic garden and dispensary cannot be garbage dumps Its impossible to stand the stench of garbage How can we expect kids and residents to use the facilityrdquoHe added ldquoThe irony is that even a BMC dispensary is blocked by heaps of garbage Local hawkers are responsible Instead of cracking down on them the BMC has built a toilet for themrdquoWaste is also being discarded at other locations in the area including DP Road 9Anil Sonkar another Chandivli resident said ldquoThere are no proper footpaths and whatever roads we have are filled with garbage that stinks and serves as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other insects Is this why we are paying taxesrdquoIndiscriminate disposal of waste in the Wadala areamidday witnessed illegal dumping at Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road and Char Rasta opposite Mumbai District AIDS Control Society in Wadala on Independence Day Locals claim that solid waste and debris dumping is a regular issue Also this waste is often burnt releasing noxious fumes Nimesh Malada a Wadala resident alleged ldquoThere is a possibility that the garbage is being dumped by civic workers as the corporationrsquos solid waste management chowkie is near the dumping spotGarbage trucks near the civic bodyrsquos solid waste management chowkie in Wadala on August 15 PicShadab KhanNikhil Desai a resident of Matunga had filed a complaint about these activities He said that action was taken after this but no permanent solutions have been arrived at ldquoThe BMC is spending crores of rupees on beautification But what about a spot like this Can the civic body include this place and other such areas in their beautification driverdquo he askedlsquoIncrease collection in MulundrsquoWhile civic vehicles carry away garbage on a daily basis in Mulund residents feel this is not enough A resident Yogesh Chavan tweeted about the sorry situation with regard to solid waste disposal in Mulund East recently Trash had accumulated near Deshmukh Garden opposite Bina Kumari Housing Society When midday visited the spot on Wednesday piles of garbage were seen on the roadTrash is seen outside roadside bins in Mulund East on WednesdayA local resident said on condition of anonymity that BMC vehicle picks up roadside garbage once a day But after this waste accumulates instantlyMulundbased civic activist Nirmal Thakker said ldquoThe BMC should either set up an enclosed minicompactor so that solid waste does not spill onto the road or collect garbage twice a dayrdquoCMrsquos garbage helpline and statisticsOn Chief Minister Eknath Shindersquos instructions the BMC launched a WhatsApp helpline earlier this year to register garbagerelated complaintsDuring the initial 30 days till July 5 the civic body received a total of 3570 complaints averaging 128 complaints daily with 93 related to garbage and the rest concerning debris However the number of complaints decreased dramatically afterwardsFrom July 6 to August 1 the BMC received only 1458 complaints averaging just 54 complaints daily Out of these 1160 an average of 43 daily were about garbage piling up and 298 an average of 11 daily were related to debrisFrom August 2 to 14 the civic body received 574 complaints averaging 44 daily Out of these 463 were about garbage and 111 about dumping debris The highest number of garbage complaints 441 came from L ward which includes Kurla and Chembur followed by P North Malad with 376 complaints and K West Andheri West and Jogeshwari West with 342 complaints According to an RTI query by Praja Foundation 12351 plaints were received in 2022 regarding solid waste management mainly garbage not being collected through the BMCrsquos central complaint registration system resulting in an average of 33 cases daily last year574No of complaints received in AugustBMC response to midday seriesTaking note of the issues highlighted by this paper civic officials said they are working on solutions and cleanup marshals may start penalising those dumping garbage in the openWhile a plan is being finalised to tackle the dumping issue the officials involved refused to speak in detail about it on the record but offered hintsldquoWe are in the process of appointing cleanup marshals and they will be on the field within two weeks The process of appointing agencies was delayed but will be completed soon They will have a right to penalise and fine people for illegal dumping of garbage Sometimes we need to be harsh to keep the city clean After the WhatsApp helpline was started we learnt that complaints were coming from the same spots so we instructed the zonal head of the solid waste management department and all 24 wardlevel executive engineers to identify five such spots in their wards and eliminate them by August 30 We are also trying to increase the payment of groups which go door to door and collect garbage in slums under the Swachh Mumbai Prabodhan Abhiyan so that they can offer better servicesrdquo said a senior official from the BMCrsquos solid waste management departmentHe added that despite the existence of various services residents or their appointed contractors do not follow procedures and end up dumping waste in public places ldquoSometimes we take the help of CCTV cameras to prevent such activities but many a time garbage is dumped in blind spots like inner gulliesrdquo the official saidAnother official said that the department has prepared a list of open dumping spots and if the residents know of similar spots in their vicinity they should contact the assistant engineer SWM of their ward to eradicate these sitesDeputy Municipal Commissioner Chanda Jadhav was not reachable for comment while Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu did not respond to middayrsquos calls or messages by press time