
MUMBAI: The civic garbage dump on mangroves and wetland at Bori Pakhadi in Uran has on fire since Wednesday last causing concern among local residents and environmentalists who have been waging a relentless battle for 13 years to have the mound moved.
The garbage dump caught fire on Wednesday night when the alert residents caught hold of three people who came with an LCV load of the snacks and sauce bottles and handed them over to the police. The police registered an FIR against three people under a relatively mild section 336 of the IPC which says: “Whoever does any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety others, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months or with fine which may extend to two hundred and fifty rupees, or with both.”
Ever since, the garbage has been burning with smoke filling the air around causing respiratory problems.
With the Section 144 in force, no one is venturing out, but all are suffering silently, said local activist Samir Ashrit.
Environment focused group NatConnect Foundation has been continuously alerting the Konkan Divisional Commissioner, Raigad Collector and other officials on a daily basis. But there has been no move yet to shift the dumping site.