Mumbai: Stop killing us, shut bio-medical waste plant, say Govandi residents

Smoke rises from a chimney of the Govandi medical waste treatment plant. File pic

Days after a proposal seeking environmental clearance to shift the biomedical waste treatment plant from Govandi to Khalapur in Raigad district was delisted, locals came forward and filed an online petition. The citizens are also seeking a dialogue with the chief minister to get clarity on their case. Their public interest litigation against the plant - SMS Envoclean - will come up for hearing at the Bombay High Court next month.

The residents, in their online petition addressed to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the BMC and the Ministry of Environment and Climate change, Maharashtra, said: "... We are being treated worse than animals, the government looks at the citizens of Govandi as guinea pigs. Not only do we have an ever-expanding dumping ground, but there are also multiple projects in the pipeline. A Waste to Energy plant is in the pipeline which residents and environmentalists have been opposing vehemently. Three animal pet incinerators might come up, exacerbating the already high pollution levels."

Locals blame the plant for the rise in TB cases in the area. File pic

In a day, the petition on Change.org got 978 signatures, as against their target of 1,000 signatures. Authorities last week delisted a proposal for environmental clearance for setting up the Envoclean facility at Khalapur, which means it won't be moving out of Mumbai anytime soon. The dejected Govandi, Deonar and Mankhurd residents feel that if they let this go lightly they will be forced to put up with the emission from Mumbai's lone medical waste treatment plant for many more years despite waging a spirited fight to pack it out of the city limits for over a decade.

Also read: Why is biomedical waste plant still in our neighbourhood, ask Govandi residents

For years, those living in Govandi, Deonar and Mankhurd have said that the medical waste treatment plant has been spewing toxic smoke posing health hazards. Locals and activists looked upon the environmental clearance (EC) as the last stage of their fight to get the plant shifted away from their backyard. Former environment minister Aaditya Thackeray had ordered the relocation of the SMS Envoclean facility to Khalapur by May 2022. However, the relocation had been delayed until June 2023 owing to pending EC, which was rejected by the state environment department last Monday.

Faiyaz Alam Shaikh, founder-president of NGO New Sangam Welfare Society and resident of Govandi, who has been representing the locals in their fight against the medical waste treatment plant, said: "We have been abandoned from all ends. Neither elected representatives nor government officials have shown concerns or visited the site. They could have formed a group of experts to study the situation here. We are very certain that cases of tuberculosis are being aggravated due to the polluted air we are forced to breathe daily. We have sought time to have a dialogue with the chief minister himself. The petition is a resident-led movement against the government, to show them that we will not settle down on this. We are not OK with being treated like guinea pigs."

A volunteer during the signature drive in Govandi on Sunday

Another resident, Rafiq Shaikh, hinted at boycotting elections: "Soon, they will come door to door, asking for votes. We know what to do now. They abandoned us, we shall abandon them. We vote for them, but the elected representatives hardly do anything for us when we need them. They were elected to represent us, what are they doing now when we want them to represent us before the state government? Earlier this year, we had decided to teach them a lesson by boycotting elections, we shall continue with the plan."

Last year, as a preventive step, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) directed SMS Envoclean to divert 50 per cent of its treatment-carrying capacity of COVID-19 waste to Mumbai Waste Management Ltd. at Taloja. Locals have now demanded that the entire load of Mumbai biomedical waste be shifted to Taloja and the SMS Envoclean plant be shut. Despite repeated attempts, Ashok Shingare, member secretary of MPCB, could not be contacted.

Offline signature drive

On Sunday, resident volunteers began door-to-door visits in Govandi and Deonar, collecting signatures from locals. They are also updating people on the status of their battle against the medical waste treatment plant and the state government.

Dec 12
Day the proposal was delisted

978
No of signatures collected by locals in a day