Hadapsar garbage dump raises a stink

PUNE, Sept 10: Over 17,000 workers in Hadapsar Industrial Estate, 22,000 residents of St Patrick's Town and neighbouring housing societie...

PUNE, Sept 10: Over 17,000 workers in Hadapsar Industrial Estate, 22,000 residents of St Patrick8217;s Town and neighbouring housing societies have had to put up with a stench that has made life an ordeal for the last three decades.

Rotting garbage left in an open 60-acre expanse of land and pigs loitering around the trenching ground continue to annoy those using the only road that leads to the industrial estate which has 120 large and small units.

The units, under the banner of Hadapsar Industrial Estate Environmental Group HIEEG, plan to resort to a rasta roko agitation on Solapur Road on September 24 to protest against the dumping of garbage by PCB trucks.

K.V. Kothari, proprietor of Noble Plastic Industries and an active member of the group, said the industries had recently submitted a memorandum to Sharad Pawar, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and have also approached PCB member Vinod Mathurawalla and PMC municipal commissioner to sort out the issue.

The lease on the trenching ground expired a decade ago, but the PCB continues to dump garbage there. The PCB is paying the lease rental to the original owner and non-agricultural cess fees to the PMC.

Following the expiry of the lease, the original owner is understood to have sold the land to various parties without informing the board. The garbage dump made headlines recently when the carcasses of thoroughbred horses were found rotting there. Industrialists alleged that the cantonment board initially dug trenches to bury the garbage, but this practice stopped within a few months.

The rotting garbage poses a health hazard to the industrial units. Some food processing units like Pravin Masalewale are located in the area. Significantly, this is the first industrial estate set up by the Pune Municipal Corporation. However, since this land belongs to a private party, none of the industrialists succeeded in forming an association. As a result, their woes have gone unheard.

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Firms like Tata Honeywell that receive visitors from abroad, have only one approach road to the company, much to the embarrassment of the officials.

However, the PCB is determined to retain the trenching ground at this site. When contacted, cantonment executive officer J Sharma said there was no move to shift the garbage site. A case filed by the new owners against the PCB is pending in the district court.

8220;As many as 20 parties are now claiming ownership to the site,8221; he said. However, the PCB counsel argued that the original owner should first approach the board since it was leased out by him.

Admitting that there was no formal lease agreement with the concerned party, Sharma said that the industries and residential areas had come up after the trenching ground and they were aware of the existence of this ground. He said the board may introduce vermiculture at the trenching ground to prevent any flies and stench.