Garbage dumping ground in Mumbai permanently shut

The garbage dumping ground at Mulund in suburban Mumbai was permanently closed from Monday after it got filled to its maximum capacity, a civic official said.

Over 7,000 metric tonne waste being generated everyday in the city will now be dumped at the landfills in Deonar and Kanjurmarg areas, he said.

"A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) team found that no more waste can be dumped at the Mulund landfill and subsequently it was decided to close it," the official from the civic body's solid waste management department said.

In February 2016, the Bombay High Court had ordered the BMC to close down the Mulund and Deonar dumping grounds after observing they had reached their saturation points.

The high court last last month directed the Maharashtra government to identify and allot a vacant land within two months to the Mumbai civic body to set up a new garbage dumping ground.

"We know that Kanjurmarg and Deonar dumping grounds are also nearing their full capacity and cannot be used for long. Therefore, two locations have been identified in Navi Mumbai at Airoli and Taloja," the BMC official said.

In June this year, the BMC had appointed a consortium of companies to process waste scientifically at the Mulund dumping ground.

The Mulund landfill, spread over an area of 24 hectares and the second largest dumping ground in Mumbai after the one at Deonar, was being used since 1967.

BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who has been following the issue, said the BMC's decision to close the Mulund landfill will benefit over one million people residing in the periphery of the dumping ground.

"Now I am following the issue of how to dispose the waste at the Deonar landfill scientifically and how the stench at the Kanjurmarg landfill can be minimised," said Somaiya, who represents the Mumbai North-East constituency which covers the Mulund area.

The BMC has time till October 2018 to use the Deonar dumping ground.