NGO head writes to authorities with geo-tagged photos, evidence
Rampant dumping in Balkum, Thane is causing debris and waste to reach dangerously close to the overhead electricity wires, says the complaint
Rampant illegal dumping of hazardous waste and debris in the mangroves of Balkum, Thane has led environmentalist Stalin Dayanand to ask the authorities for urgent intervention. Stalin, director of the NGO Vanashakti, said mangroves have been destroyed, coastal wetlands filled up and even hazardous waste has been dumped at the site.
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“The dumping has reached levels where the high-tension power lines on the plot have come within touching distance. This is a serious safety hazard. The land in question seems to be privately owned and that makes the owners of the land culpable of this offence,” Stalin said in his letter.
The dumping is destroying mangroves and violating CRZ regulations, according to the complaint
He has written to the Thane Collector, Thane Municipal Commissioner, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, Mangroves Cell and the Thane police commissioner complaining about the illegal dumping.
He said, “This is to draw your attention to the expanding violations of CRZ rules, mangrove protection orders and hazardous waste dumping in Balkum, Thane. We have already filed cases for about 14 sites in Thane that fall in CRZ and are subject to massive dumping of waste and debris. The hon’ble National Green Tribunal (NGT) has also passed orders in those cases.”
Stalin, who has documented the dumping with geotagged photographs, said that there has been no let-up in the unchecked illegal dumping on CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) lands, in mangrove areas. “The new CRZ / mangrove site which is the subject matter of this complaint is located at Balkum in Thane district within Thane Municipal Corporation limits,” he said. The environmentalist has also appealed to the authorities to identify and prosecute the culprits and take steps to restore the land to the creek level.
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