An environmentalist from Mumbai has accused a civic contractor of illegally dumping raw sewage into salt lakes in Bhandup. The environmentalist has also provided photo and video evidence of the violations along with GPS coordinates providing the precise location. The region appears to be near a service road in Nahur East.
In a written complaint to the Mumbai Suburban Collector, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, and the Mangrove Cell of the Forest Department, D Stalin, Director of NGO Vanashakti said, “While the work is needed for better sewage collection and treatment, the method employed here as seen in the video is to pump the sewage into the intertidal salt lakes. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has a sewage treatment plant less than 2kms away. The sewage could have been easily transported by tankers.”
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The road in question is reportedly being constructed to build new sewer lines in the location. However, the contractor is shown to be pumping out waste from the existing sewers into the salt lakes. This is despite the fact that the location is fairly close to the sewage treatment plant in Bhandup.
“This act of pumping raw sewage into the salt lakes and polluting it is an offence. Please take action and direct MCGM to proceed in a proper non-polluting manner,” the complaint went on to say.
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Officials from the MCGM or the Forest Department did not comment on the allegations, although an anonymous revenue department official quoted by the Hindustan Times provided an update.
“We have visited the site and noted dumping of debris in the salt lake, which has been tarred over to make an access road by the contractor. We gave permission for laying new sewer lines in Bhandup but not to reclaim water bodies. We will seek a written undertaking from the MCGM that the road will be removed once work is complete,” the official was quoted as saying.
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