2 TIMES CITY -...

1
Radheshyam.Jadhav @timesgroup.com S oni picks up a morsel of rice, deftly dodges a bunch of dragon-sized flies and mosquitoes hov- ering over her plate and quickly stuffs the food in her mouth. Rodents run past her plate, and she watches a bunch of stray dogs fight in a garbage mound near her shanty in Power Station locality of Phursungi, where she, like other residents, has become only too used to the sight and stench of trash that Pune dumps in her backyard every day. Soni lives near the 163-acre plot spread across three villages of Phursungi, Mantarwadi and Uruli Devachi that the Pune Mu- nicipal Corporation uses to dump garbage. This open mammoth dustbin of the city, with almost- defunct garbage processing units, was meant to be a ‘temporary’ ar- rangement, but 23 years on, vil- lagers are losing hope. They fear the dump yard that has rendered their farmlands infertile and wa- ter in wells non-potable may never be closed. Villagers say they live in an island of depriva- tion in a flourishing Pune. Land prices in these villages have plummeted under the weight of a garbage identity that has clung to these parts as strongly as the stench that has permeated their clothes, and also their lungs. “The garbage dump has de- stroyed our lives. It has damaged our health, ruined our land, pol- luted our water and has given our villages the tag of a garbage dump,” says Balasaheb Harpale, a local doctor. The burden of disease and apathy O n a weekday afternoon, a group of women in Phur- sungi stand in a huddle around a public water tap con- nected to a newly-laid PMC pipe- line, a perk offered to the village for putting up with the city’s gar- bage for years. With water in its wells and borewells contaminat- ed, one part of the village de- pends on this water tap and an- other on PMC’s water tankers. The water supply is as much a perk as it is a tool in the hands of the municipal corporation to ensure that villagers don’t pro- test. Locals say the civic body and city leaders stop water supply if they protest against garbage dumping – an annual ritual when villagers block entry of garbage vehicles for a few days. “There are days when we don’t have water even in our toi- lets if the PMC doesn’t send tank- ers. Wells in the village have enough water, but it has turned toxic with the leachate from gar- bage dump,” says a villager. “We have large tracts of fam- ily land here and we once owned a massive custard apple and ba- nana cultivation, but we have abandoned it as the water in the two wells that once supported horticultural activity is now tar- like. Whatever little agriculture is left in the village depends on canal water,” adds Harpale who is also the president of Saswad Road Doctors’ Association. The air in these villages is as polluted as its water. The garbage stink hangs in the air in Phur- sungi, Uruli Devachi and Mantar- wadi villages, which have a col- lective population of one lakh, but an estimated 150 clinics and hospitals. A striking number of paediatricians practice here and business at clinics, many of them swank-looking, is brisk. “You will find patients of asthma and respiratory tract in- fections in every household. Peo- ple also suffer from all types of skin diseases apart from various aches and pains. The overall im- munity of villagers is poor as they heavily depend on antibiot- ics all the time,” said Harpale. Another doctor here, Mahesh Shende, points out that dengue, malaria, diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid are common ailments, with children and the elderly the worst hit. "When Pune city was reeling from the swine flu epidem- ic, used masks of citizens were being dumped in their villages," recalls Shende. The resentment against this apathy has been building up. “For 23 years now, the PMC and citizens have not bothered about our health. Whenever we stop the entry of PMC’s garbage vehicles, leaders tell us that garbage spilling over from bins could create health prob- lems for Pune’s citizens. But have they ever thought how we have been living with the same hazard- ous garbage for years,” questions Tatya Bhadale of Uruli village. The disgust for Pune city and its civic body is palpable. People here scoff at the mixed garbage the city dumps in their villages. “Pune is said to be a developed city, but citizens don’t know how to segregate garbage,” says a lo- cal resident here. Trash identity fails realty check D ilip Me- hta, president of the Phursungi environment conservation committee, says the PMC had stopped the gar- bage depot in Ko- thrud because citizens there had complained of foul odour. “In 1991, the PMC acquired 43 acre land in Uruli Devachi for a garbage dump. In 2004, the MPCB asked the PMC to look for another dumping ground and they along with Pune leaders very cleverly acquired an- other 120 acre land from Phursun- gi and Mantarwadi, adjacent to Uruli Devachi dump. Since then, the corporation has been dumping garbage in the name of processing it,” says Mehta. Locals have, however, stayed on in the hope that they would one day be able to monetise the land they own, once the villages are able to shed their garbage tag, even as they battle multiple concerns. For instance, there is an unusual social problem these three villages face – a majority of houses here don’t have any visitors, ever. “Even rela- tives don’t visit us. And when we visit them, the first question they ask is about the garbage. They say we even smell different,” says a lo- cal resident. Many families have been living here before the garbage depot was planted right at their doorstep, and others stay here as they can- not afford to live elsewhere. The stigma is not limited to social in- teractions alone, with the stench denting realty prices as well. “Kothrud has developed and look at what has happened to us. The garbage depot has become the identity of our villages,” says Me- hta. Locals say they are struggling to get rid of this garbage dump and more importantly the garbage identity. “No girl is ready to get married in these villages. The minute they hear the name of Uruli Devachi or Phursungi, they stop asking any further ques- tions,” says an elderly resident. The frustration has only in- creased with the realty boom in Pune and its fringes. Sanjay Har- pale, a young politician and former sarpanch of Phursungi, says, “We have land, but we cannot cultivate it. We are eager to get into realty business, but who will buy flats near a garbage depot.” Sanjay further notes: “Hadap- sar is just 2 km from Phursungi. The ongoing property rates there start from Rs 6,000-7,000 per sq ft. In our villages, the rate hovers between Rs 2,000-3,000 per sq ft. Investors do not wish to buy prop- erty here because of the garbage depot. The fringes around Pune have developed, except this area,” he says. Some farmers have construct- ed godowns along Saswad Road that are used by business houses and industries to store material to avoid paying LBT. But villagers say that this investment has not yielded the expected result and realty appears to them as the only lucrative option. “We have our own land which we want to de- velop. But customers these days seek amenities such as swimming pools. Here we struggle to get drinking water, how can we bring water for swimming,” asks Ratan, a local youth. The only visible activity here is on the main road leading to the villages where small restaurants, sweet shops and small mobile stores have come up. The heavy traffic moving towards Saswad has these small entrepreneurs do reasonable business. “In recent times, some companies and busi- ness houses have opened their of- fices and workshops at some dis- tance from Phursungi. But there is still a lot of scope for economic development. The only hurdle is the garbage dump,” says Rakesh a restaurant owner. Politics of promises O nce every year, the three vil- lages Pune city uses as its dustbin close their doors to garbage vehicles. Protests are of- ten always handled with promises of good roads, potable water and jobs that manage to placate villag- ers, but only for a while as the promises start falling apart like the city’s almost non-existent plan to handle its garbage problem. “The PMC is not even provid- ing water on time. All these years they have deceived us by making false promises. Now we won’t al- low garbage dumping and process- ing in our village limits,” says an angry villager. The heaps of garbage have also turned into concrete ground for political posturing. Young leaders from across political parties agi- tate against the PMC when it suits them politically. The BJP-Sena, which earlier led protests, now seek an amicable solution after villagers once again blocked the entry of garbage vehicles from December 31. The NCP has switched to the villagers’ side, standing up for their rights. Governments change, but po- litical statements remain much the same. Pune’s guardian minis- ter Girish Bapat says, “The city generates not more than 1,200 tonne garbage. The number is in- flated for the benefit of some peo- ple. The state government is talk- ing to villagers and PMC officials. It is true that villagers have suf- fered because of the garbage dump all these years and now we need to find sustainable solution.” Shiv Sena’a Purandar MLA Vijay Shivtare, who had led many agita- tions in the past, said recently that discussions, not agitations can yield a solution. Civic officials maintain they started capping process at the dumpsite in 2012, which includes scientific closure, reclamation, resource extraction and post-clo- sure maintenance. The process is important to prevent fires that can be caused due to the production of flammable gases. “The project is being implemented in accord- ance with the provisions of the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Han- dling) Rules, 2000 and includes a leachate collection and a gas ex- traction system. Then a green cover will be developed on the capped area,” said Suresh Jagtap, head of PMC’s solid waste man- agement cell. The work is cur- rently underway and work on one patch of the dumpsite has been completed so far. Curiously, the central govern- ment had awarded Pune for its "best efforts" to manage its gar- bage that had even the staunchest government loyalists wonder the logic behind the acclaim. Nation- al and international experts and researchers have visited Pune in recent years to study the city's model. But huge hollow struc- tures of the much-lauded Selco and Hanjaer processing units lie deserted amidst huge piles of garbage. Other villages are already alert as the PMC has started looking for a new dumping ground and plots to set up processing units. “Vil- lages in Pune region have learnt from us. Our three villages stand as an example of what reckless urbanization can do to the city’s fringes,” says Anant Bhadale of Uruli Devachi. Bhadale says that the villages are keen to shed their trash iden- tities. “We are not kachrawalas. We want to live in a clean environ- ment and lead a healthy life. Our children have the same rights as children in the city,” he said. Local experts and NGOs are willing to work with the PMC and provide solutions, but the civic administration and elected mem- bers have not paid any heed to them so far. The villagers have already closed their doors on the city’s garbage many times. Pune is al- ready dumping considerable trash in its river, nullahs, gardens and footpaths. It won’t be long possibly before Puneites get a glimpse of what locals in these three villages have gone through in the last 23 years. TIMES CITY | SPECIAL REPORT 2 SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA, PUNE FEBRUARY 1, 2015 Life In A Garbage Dump In The Villages Of Phursungi, Uruli Devachi & Mantarwadi, Farmlands Are Infertile And Water Is Not Fit To Drink. Residents Complain Of Poor Health, But Stay On Hoping Change Will Come Some Day Ram Pics: Shyam Sonar PUNE'S BACKYARD: The realty boom in Pune and its fringes finds no resonance in the three villages of Phursungi, Uruli Devachi and Mantarwadi, where the city’s garbage depot is located. (right) Murky water spills on the streets and villagers show contaminated water in wells – the outcome of hazardous waste piling up on their land for years now and leachate seeping into the ground 1) There are only two sources of water in these parts— a water tanker and a public water tap, both provided by the PMC. 2) Tar-like water in wells. 3) The civic body started the capping process in 2012 and work on one patch of the dumpsite is completed. 4) A defunct garbage processing unit GRIM REALITY The garbage processing plants in the villages are currently lying defunct. Villagers have stopped entry of garbage trucks since December 31 The landfill site is very old and releases leachate during rains, which contaminates ground water used for drinking and irrigation TAKING OUT THE TRASH 1,400-1,500 metric tonnes is the average garbage quantity Pune city generates daily 1,000 -1,100 tonnes is sent to the processing plants in Phursungi & Uruli Devachi Scientific capping is the only solution to the stench that villagers face, but water contamination will remain ä Suggestions include decentralising processing units and segregating garbage at source ä Residential societies should take care of their own garbage than dumping it ä Vermi-composting should be implemented for processing wet garbage ä Small bio-gas at every ward level POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 1 2 3 4

Transcript of 2 TIMES CITY -...

Page 1: 2 TIMES CITY - lupm.urban-industrial.inlupm.urban-industrial.in/live/hrdpmp/hrdpmaster/igep/content/e... · Shende, points out that dengue, malaria, diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid

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Soni picks up a morsel of rice, deftly dodges a bunch of dragon-sized flies and mosquitoes hov-ering over her plate and

quickly stuffs the food in her mouth. Rodents run past her plate, and she watches a bunch of stray dogs fight in a garbage mound near her shanty in Power Station locality of Phursungi, where she, like other residents, has become only too used to the sight and stench of trash that Pune dumps in her backyard every day.

Soni lives near the 163-acre plot spread across three villages of Phursungi, Mantarwadi and Uruli Devachi that the Pune Mu-nicipal Corporation uses to dump garbage. This open mammoth dustbin of the city, with almost-defunct garbage processing units, was meant to be a ‘temporary’ ar-rangement, but 23 years on, vil-lagers are losing hope. They fear the dump yard that has rendered their farmlands infertile and wa-ter in wells non-potable may never be closed. Villagers say they live in an island of depriva-tion in a flourishing Pune. Land prices in these villages have plummeted under the weight of a garbage identity that has clung to these parts as strongly as the stench that has permeated their clothes, and also their lungs.

“The garbage dump has de-stroyed our lives. It has damaged our health, ruined our land, pol-luted our water and has given our villages the tag of a garbage dump,” says Balasaheb Harpale, a local doctor.

The burden of disease and apathy

On a weekday afternoon, a group of women in Phur-sungi stand in a huddle

around a public water tap con-nected to a newly-laid PMC pipe-line, a perk offered to the village for putting up with the city’s gar-bage for years. With water in its wells and borewells contaminat-ed, one part of the village de-pends on this water tap and an-other on PMC’s water tankers.

The water supply is as much a perk as it is a tool in the hands of the municipal corporation to ensure that villagers don’t pro-test. Locals say the civic body and city leaders stop water supply if they protest against garbage dumping – an annual ritual when villagers block entry of garbage vehicles for a few days.

“There are days when we don’t have water even in our toi-lets if the PMC doesn’t send tank-ers. Wells in the village have enough water, but it has turned toxic with the leachate from gar-bage dump,” says a villager.

“We have large tracts of fam-ily land here and we once owned a massive custard apple and ba-nana cultivation, but we have abandoned it as the water in the two wells that once supported horticultural activity is now tar-like. Whatever little agriculture is left in the village depends on canal water,” adds Harpale who is also the president of Saswad Road Doctors’ Association.

The air in these villages is as polluted as its water. The garbage stink hangs in the air in Phur-sungi, Uruli Devachi and Mantar-

wadi villages, which have a col-lective population of one lakh, but an estimated 150 clinics and hospitals. A striking number of paediatricians practice here and business at clinics, many of them swank-looking, is brisk.

“You will find patients of asthma and respiratory tract in-fections in every household. Peo-ple also suffer from all types of skin diseases apart from various aches and pains. The overall im-munity of villagers is poor as they heavily depend on antibiot-ics all the time,” said Harpale.

Another doctor here, Mahesh Shende, points out that dengue, malaria, diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid are common ailments, with children and the elderly the worst hit. "When Pune city was reeling from the swine flu epidem-ic, used masks of citizens were being dumped in their villages," recalls Shende.

The resentment against this apathy has been building up. “For 23 years now, the PMC and citizens have not bothered about our health. Whenever we stop the entry of PMC’s garbage vehicles, leaders tell us that garbage spilling over from bins could create health prob-lems for Pune’s citizens. But have they ever thought how we have been living with the same hazard-ous garbage for years,” questions Tatya Bhadale of Uruli village.

The disgust for Pune city and its civic body is palpable. People here scoff at the mixed garbage the city dumps in their villages. “Pune is said to be a developed city, but citizens don’t know how to segregate garbage,” says a lo-cal resident here.

Trash identity fails realty check

Di l ip Me-hta,

president of the Phursungi environment conservation committee, says the PMC had stopped the gar-bage depot in Ko-thrud because citizens there had complained of foul odour. “In 1991, the PMC acquired 43 acre land in Uruli Devachi for a garbage dump. In 2004, the MPCB asked the PMC to look for another dumping ground and they along with Pune leaders very cleverly acquired an-other 120 acre land from Phursun-gi and Mantarwadi, adjacent to Uruli Devachi dump. Since then, the corporation has been dumping garbage in the name of processing it,” says Mehta.

Locals have, however, stayed on in the hope that they would one day be able to monetise the land they own, once the villages are able to shed their garbage tag, even as they battle multiple concerns. For instance, there is an unusual social problem these three villages face – a majority of houses here don’t have any visitors, ever. “Even rela-tives don’t visit us. And when we visit them, the first question they ask is about the garbage. They say we even smell different,” says a lo-cal resident.

Many families have been living here before the garbage depot was planted right at their doorstep, and others stay here as they can-not afford to live elsewhere. The stigma is not limited to social in-teractions alone, with the stench denting realty prices as well.

“Kothrud has developed and look at what has happened to us. The garbage depot has become the identity of our villages,” says Me-hta. Locals say they are struggling to get rid of this garbage dump and more importantly the garbage

identity. “No girl is ready to get married in these villages. The minute they hear the name of Uruli Devachi or Phursungi, they stop asking any further ques-tions,” says an elderly resident.

The frustration has only in-creased with the realty boom in Pune and its fringes. Sanjay Har-pale, a young politician and former sarpanch of Phursungi, says, “We have land, but we cannot cultivate it. We are eager to get into realty business, but who will buy flats near a garbage depot.”

Sanjay further notes: “Hadap-sar is just 2 km from Phursungi. The ongoing property rates there start from Rs 6,000-7,000 per sq ft. In our villages, the rate hovers between Rs 2,000-3,000 per sq ft. Investors do not wish to buy prop-erty here because of the garbage depot. The fringes around Pune have developed, except this area,” he says.

Some farmers have construct-ed godowns along Saswad Road that are used by business houses and industries to store material to avoid paying LBT. But villagers say that this investment has not yielded the expected result and realty appears to them as the only lucrative option. “We have our own land which we want to de-velop. But customers these days seek amenities such as swimming pools. Here we struggle to get drinking water, how can we bring

water for swimming,” asks Ratan, a local youth.

The only visible activity here is on the main road leading to the villages where small restaurants, sweet shops and small mobile stores have come up. The heavy traffic moving towards Saswad has these small entrepreneurs do

reasonable business. “In recent times, some companies and busi-ness houses have opened their of-fices and workshops at some dis-tance from Phursungi. But there is still a lot of scope for economic development. The only hurdle is the garbage dump,” says Rakesh a restaurant owner.

Politics of promises

Once every year, the three vil-lages Pune city uses as its dustbin close their doors to

garbage vehicles. Protests are of-ten always handled with promises of good roads, potable water and jobs that manage to placate villag-ers, but only for a while as the promises start falling apart like the city’s almost non-existent plan

to handle its garbage problem.“The PMC is not even provid-

ing water on time. All these years they have deceived us by making false promises. Now we won’t al-low garbage dumping and process-ing in our village limits,” says an angry villager.

The heaps of garbage have also turned into concrete ground for political posturing. Young leaders from across political parties agi-tate against the PMC when it suits them politically. The BJP-Sena, which earlier led protests, now seek an amicable solution after villagers once again blocked the entry of garbage vehicles from December 31. The NCP has switched to the villagers’ side, standing up for their rights.

Governments change, but po-litical statements remain much the same. Pune’s guardian minis-ter Girish Bapat says, “The city generates not more than 1,200 tonne garbage. The number is in-flated for the benefit of some peo-ple. The state government is talk-ing to villagers and PMC officials.

It is true that villagers have suf-fered because of the garbage dump all these years and now we need to find sustainable solution.” Shiv Sena’a Purandar MLA Vijay Shivtare, who had led many agita-tions in the past, said recently that discussions, not agitations can yield a solution.

Civic officials maintain they started capping process at the dumpsite in 2012, which includes scientific closure, reclamation, resource extraction and post-clo-sure maintenance. The process is important to prevent fires that can be caused due to the production of flammable gases. “The project is being implemented in accord-ance with the provisions of the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Han-dling) Rules, 2000 and includes a leachate collection and a gas ex-traction system. Then a green cover will be developed on the capped area,” said Suresh Jagtap, head of PMC’s solid waste man-agement cell. The work is cur-rently underway and work on one patch of the dumpsite has been completed so far.

Curiously, the central govern-ment had awarded Pune for its "best efforts" to manage its gar-bage that had even the staunchest government loyalists wonder the logic behind the acclaim. Nation-al and international experts and

researchers have visited Pune in recent years to study the city's model. But huge hollow struc-tures of the much-lauded Selco and Hanjaer processing units lie deserted amidst huge piles of garbage.

Other villages are already alert as the PMC has started looking for a new dumping ground and plots to set up processing units. “Vil-lages in Pune region have learnt from us. Our three villages stand as an example of what reckless urbanization can do to the city’s fringes,” says Anant Bhadale of Uruli Devachi.

Bhadale says that the villages are keen to shed their trash iden-tities. “We are not kachrawalas.We want to live in a clean environ-ment and lead a healthy life. Our children have the same rights as children in the city,” he said.

Local experts and NGOs are willing to work with the PMC and provide solutions, but the civic administration and elected mem-bers have not paid any heed to them so far.

The villagers have already closed their doors on the city’s garbage many times. Pune is al-ready dumping considerable trash in its river, nullahs, gardens and footpaths. It won’t be long possibly before Puneites get a glimpse of what locals in these three villages have gone through in the last 23 years.

TIMES CITY | SPECIAL REPORT2 SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA, PUNE FEBRUARY 1, 2015

Life In A Garbage DumpIn The Villages Of Phursungi, Uruli Devachi & Mantarwadi, Farmlands Are Infertile And Water Is Not Fit To Drink. Residents Complain Of Poor Health, But Stay On Hoping Change Will Come Some Day

Ram

Pics: Shyam Sonar

PUNE'S BACKYARD: The realty boom in Pune and its fringes finds no resonance in the three villages of Phursungi, Uruli Devachi and Mantarwadi, where the city’s garbage depot is located. (right) Murky water spills on the streets and villagers show contaminated water in wells – the outcome of hazardous waste piling up on their land for years now and leachate seeping into the ground

1) There are only two sources of water in these parts— a water tanker and a public water tap, both provided by the PMC. 2) Tar-like water in wells. 3) The civic body started the capping process in 2012 and work on one patch of the dumpsite is completed. 4) A defunct garbage processing unit

GRIM REALITY

The garbage processing plants in the villages are currently lying defunct. Villagers have stopped entry of garbage trucks since December 31

The landfill site is very old and releases leachate during rains, which contaminates ground water used for drinking and irrigation

TAKING OUT THE TRASH1,400-1,500

metric tonnes is the average garbage

quantity Pune city generates daily

1,000 -1,100tonnes is sent to the processing plants in Phursungi & Uruli Devachi

Scientific capping is the only solution to the stench that villagers face, but water contamination will remain

ä Suggestions include decentralising processing units and segregating garbage at source

äResidential societies should take care of their own garbage than dumping it

äVermi-composting should be implemented for processing wet garbage

ä Small bio-gas at every ward level

POSSIBLESOLUTIONS

1

2

3

4