NEWS

Residents of Deonar (M-wards) are up in arms against the BMC for its decision to install a bio-medical waste treatment plant (BMWTP) in the area despite opposition from the local people and their 19 corporators. The corporators said they had approached additional municipal commissioner RA Rajeev in 2008 when the proposal for a BMWTP had come to the Standing Committee meeting for an approval. But the official did not pay heed to their request and went ahead with the installation, they said, adding that the plant is a health hazard."Rajeev has been adamant and gone ahead with this plant. We tried to make him understand how dangerous an incinerator is," said Raja Chougule, corporator, M-west ward. "When we visited the site with ward committee chairman Suresh Patil, we found that the air pollution control meter was missing in the plant. In Hyderabad, in 2003, the pollution control board had concluded that medical waste should be buried, not burnt," said Mohammed Farooque, corporator, M-east ward.The Standing Committee had recently turned down the proposal of partial closure of the dumping ground in Deonar. So with the additional BMWTP, it has added to the residents' existing woes."We feel cheated by the BMC. They have not stuck to their word though we did a signature campaign and opposed it at the ward committee meeting.