After fire at Uruli Devachi depot: Garbage piles up across city, PMC says monitoring situation
Piled-up garbage at Shanivarpeth. Arul Horizon Piled-up garbage at Shanivarpeth. Arul Horizon
The last week’s fire at the garbage depot in Uruli Devachi, along with the non-functional processing plants, have turned the city into a huge dumping ground, with heaps of garbage in every corner.
The civic administration, however, claims to have the situation under control. “We are working hard to get the city clean by collecting and disposing the waste at the bins across city. There is a backlog of 500 tons of waste,” said Suresh Jagtap, joint municipal commissioner and incharge of solid waste management department.
He added that the civic administration has already started segregation of the waste collected at the bins for easier disposal. “The wet garbage is being sent to the bio-gas plants, while dry waste is being disposed off in the facilities available,” he said.
Pointing out that there are various areas across the city, from where waste still needs to be lifted, he said, “The civic staff would work round the clock to ensure the waste does not spill over in open and on streets.”
Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials said the fire that broke out at dumping site Uruli Devachi is being brought under control and all possible steps are being taken to ensure that it does not happen again. “The civic administration have deployed fire tenders at the site. The fire has been brought under control, but smoke continues to emanate from the site,” said a civic official.
Recently, the residents of Uruli Devachi village had protested against the civic body for continuing disposal of waste at the dumping site in the village, despite promising to stop it. They had also sought construction of two water tanks in the village. However, none of their demands have been met till now.
The civic body had, a few years ago, released funds for construction of roads and other development works in the village, which included laying a water pipeline. The pipeline project was proposed after it was found that the village ground water has been polluted by the dumping depot. However, villagers claimed that nothing constructive has been done yet.
The state government had also recommended inclusion of Uruli Devachi and Phursungi villages within the civic jurisdiction, which the villagers had opposed.
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