In Pimpri-Chinchwad,residents against setting up a buffer zone close to the garbage dump Even as the issue of shifting of garbage dump in Uruli Devachi and Phursungi in Pune Municipal Corporation limits continues,another garbage dump has come in the eye of a storm. This time a controversy has erupted in Pimpri-Chinchwad over the local civic bodys garbage dump at Moshi and its plan to set up a buffer zone close to the dump. Residents of Moshi on Thursday held a road blockade on Pune-Nashik Highway,demanding shifting of the garbabe dump and the buffer zone which,they said,was a source of diseases. The blockade was organised by the Kachra Depot and Buffer Zone Samiti. Shiv Sena MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil,who led the agitation,warned that the stir would be intensified if the PCMC refused to shift the garbage dump and give up its plan to set up the buffer zone. The garbage dump was already causing nuisance to the residents and now the PCMC is planning to set up a buffer zone. This is an injustice to the residents, Adhalrao-Patil said. MLA Vilas Lande said the garbage dump has become a source of pollution for Indrayani river and the civic administration should shift it elsewhere to save the river. As an elected representative of the people,I will stand by them, he said. A day after the protest,Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma said if the residents had genuine grievances,the administration will look into it in all seriousness. We will make all efforts to find a solution to the issue, he said. Civic officials said the residents are angry because the state government has invited suggestions over setting up of the buffer zone. After the suggestions and objections are received,the government will hold a hearing. The entire process will take over a years time. But the residents seem to apprehend that they would be displaced if a buffer zone comes in 500 metre area near the garbage depot , an officer said. The civic chief said the administration was committed to finding a peaceful solution to the row. Sharma said the PCMC was exploring the possibility of converting garbage into electricity as done in Pune. PCMC health chief Nagkumar Kunachgi said once the mechanical composting and landfilling projects go in full swing,the problem of stench would reduce considerably. In three months,the residents will have little to complain about, he said. Kunachgi said if the residents have anything to complain regarding health,his department will take care of it. Months back,the PCMC had tried to shift the Moshi garbage depot to Punawale,but after protests from residents there,the PCMC started the search for an alternative sight.
