Mumbai: Finally, pollution board rap for bio-waste plant

Trucks carrying medical waste outside SMS Envoclean’s plant at Govandi. File pic

Perseverance has paid off, albeit in small measures, for the residents of Govandi, Deonar and Mankhurd who have faced off with the city's only biomedical waste treatment plant. Acting on their repeated complaints, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has issued a notice to SMS Envoclean asking it to upgrade the facility to prevent polluting the surroundings. MPCB has warned of legal action in case of non-compliance. Locals said MPCB's August 26 notice has given them the much-needed boost to pursue their fight against pollution.

"This is a tiny ray of hope when everything went dark. However, we will get relief only when the biomedical waste treatment plant shifts to Khalapur. We wish that no one else has to go through what we have been facing for years now. We have been breathing polluted air every minute, thanks to the infamous Deonar dumping ground and SMS Envoclean. The first step of action has been initiated. I hope they continue to stay firm on this and take action against the facility for non-compliance," said Fayyaz Shaikh, a local and the president of NGO Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society.

Smoke rises from a chimney at Envoclean's biomedical waste treatment plant in Govandi. File pic

The Deonar dumping ground alone processes around 2,500 tonnes of garbage every day. SMS Envoclean's facility is located a few kilometres away and has been authorised by the BMC and the MPCB to treat biomedical waste since 2009.

"It is obligatory on your part to provide adequate pollution control systems so as to comply with the conditions prescribed in the consent. Continuous complaints were received against the facility [SMS Envoclean], accordingly, board officials and BMC officials visited the facility on August 26, 2022. On the basis of observations made by the above officials who visited the facility, certain directions have been issued for necessary compliance," said S S Bhosale, MPCB's regional officer-Mumbai, in the notice.

Shaikh said they received a copy of the pollution control board's notice on Tuesday. "It would be interesting to see if MPCB, BMC or the state government will take any action against the facility for the damages they have already caused to the health of residents." The residents have also moved the National Green Tribunal against the med waste treatment plant.

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Every day, dozens of trucks bring biomedical waste from quarantine and medical facilities to Envoclean's plant. If not treated properly, this waste could pose a health hazard. In 2020, MPCB had asked the plant to upgrade its scrubber technology and reduce the black shoot emitted from its chimney after burning the medical waste.

"In case the facility fails to comply with the above directions, the board will have no option but to initiate legal action against the biomedical waste treatment plant under the provisions of the environmental enactments," Bhosale added.

To resolve the issue to some extent, MPCB had directed the facility to treat only 50 per cent of its total capacity of biomedical waste and send the rest to a facility in Taloja. However, MPCB's recent directions to the plant following complaints shows that Envoclean's pollution control system was either not working properly or they were not operating it continuously, residents have alleged.

"In a meeting held with former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray on June 6, 2022, the facility owners tabled a detailed timeline of the plan to set up the facility at Atkargaon in Khalapur. Accordingly, it was stated in the meeting that after obtaining the environmental clearance, the setting up of the facility will take more time. The timeline for setting up the facility has been estimated to be June 2023.
Until then we are closely monitoring the facility and non-compliance will not be tolerated," said a senior MPCB official. Amit Nilawar, director of SMS Envoclean could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

What MPCB notice says

>> The facility shall operate the existing pollution control system continuously during the operation of the plant to avoid air pollution in the vicinity
>> It will submit a proposal to upgrade the pollution control system within eight days and upgrade the same within one month
>> Envoclean plant has been told to submit an additional bank guarantee of R2 lakh within 10 days towards the compliance of MPCB's directions

2020
Year MPCB asked Envoclean to treat only 50% of medical waste at Govandi