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

File pic

The number of daily complaints received by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's newly launched WhatsApp helpline dropped to 43 in August from 128 in June. The city's streets, however, are as filthy as ever. While garbage is picked up after citizens make complaints, dumping spots aren't being eliminated. In response to the Part I of mid-day's series on the issue, civic officials have said they will appoint clean-up marshals next month to rein in dumping by imposing strict penalties.

Chandivli, an upmarket area marred by dumping

Garbage dumped on the road at tony Chandivli in Andheri East
Once known for its industrial estates, Chandivli is now a posh residential locality which is also where several corporate houses have their offices. However, there hasn't been much improvement in terms of infrastructure, and garbage dumping continues to be an issue. The civic body obliges residents when they register waste-related complaints, but days after action is taken, trash piles up again.

Mandeep Singh Makkar, a founder of Chandivli Citizens Welfare Association, told mid-day, "Whenever 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. It's impossible to stand the stench of garbage. How can we expect kids and residents to use the facility?"

He added, "The 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 them."

Waste is also being discarded at other locations in the area, including DP Road 9.

Anil Sonkar, another Chandivli resident, said, "There 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 taxes?"

Indiscriminate disposal of waste in the Wadala area

mid-day 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, "There is a possibility that the garbage is being dumped by civic workers, as the corporation's solid waste management chowkie is near the dumping spot.

Garbage trucks near the civic body's solid waste management chowkie in Wadala on August 15. Pic/Shadab Khan

Nikhil 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. "The 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 drive," he asked.

‘Increase collection in Mulund'

While 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 mid-day visited the spot on Wednesday, piles of garbage were seen on the road.

Trash is seen outside roadside bins in Mulund East on Wednesday

A local resident said on condition of anonymity that BMC vehicle picks up roadside garbage once a day. But after this, waste accumulates instantly.
Mulund-based civic activist Nirmal Thakker said, "The BMC should either set up an enclosed mini-compactor so that solid waste does not spill onto the road or collect garbage twice a day."

CM's garbage helpline and statistics

On Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's instructions, the BMC launched a WhatsApp helpline earlier this year to register garbage-related complaints.
During the initial 30 days, till July 5, the civic body received a total of 3,570 complaints, averaging 128 complaints daily, with 93 related to garbage and the rest concerning debris. However, the number of complaints decreased dramatically afterwards.

From July 6 to August 1, the BMC received only 1,458 complaints, averaging just 54 complaints daily. Out of these, 1,160 (an average of 43 daily) were about garbage piling up, and 298 (an average of 11 daily) were related to debris.

From 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, 12,351 plaints were received in 2022 regarding solid waste management, mainly garbage not being collected through the BMC's central complaint registration system, resulting in an average of 33 cases daily last year.

574
No. of complaints received in August

BMC response to mid-day series

Taking note of the issues highlighted by this paper, civic officials said they are working on solutions and clean-up marshals may start penalising those dumping garbage in the open.

While 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 hints.

"We are in the process of appointing clean-up 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 ward-level 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 services," said a senior official from the BMC's solid waste management department.

He 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. "Sometimes we take the help of CCTV cameras to prevent such activities but many a time, garbage is dumped in blind spots like inner gullies," the official said.

Another 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 sites.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Chanda Jadhav was not reachable for comment while Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu did not respond to mid-day's calls or messages by press time.