Mumbai: Residents Serve Legal Notice Seeking Halt To Deonar Waste-To-Energy Plant Over Safety Concerns

Mumbai, July 17, 2026: Local citizens have sent a legal notice to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the state Environment Department, demanding an immediate halt to the proposed 600 metric tonnes per day Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant at the Deonar dumping ground pending an independent safety and environmental audit.

The Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society, through environmental activist and advocate Faiyaz Alam Shaikh, cited the recent collapse at the Moshi landfill in Pune, where a waste mound reportedly crushed a waste-to-energy facility, killing nine people.

Shaikh contended that the incident validates concerns repeatedly raised since 2023 regarding the dangers of constructing a WTE plant on unstable legacy waste.

Safety Concerns Raised

The notice claims that the Deonar dumping ground, established in 1927, contains millions of tonnes of unstable legacy waste and warns that locating a WTE facility within or adjacent to the landfill could trigger slope failures, methane gas explosions and landfill collapses, particularly during the monsoon. It also argues that storing refuse-derived fuel at the site would create an additional fire hazard in the densely populated Govandi-Deonar area.

While acknowledging the BMC's recent decision to conduct safety audits at the Deonar, Kanjurmarg and Mulund dumping grounds, the notice describes the exercise as inadequate and calls for an independent expert committee comprising environmental specialists, structural engineers and local civic representatives.

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Legal Action Threatened

The legal notice also alleges violations of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and Article 21 of the Constitution, seeking an immediate stop-work order, suspension of bio-mining activities during the monsoon and adoption of alternative waste management measures such as mechanical segregation, composting and green belt development. It warns that failure to respond within seven days would result in proceedings before the National Green Tribunal and the Bombay High Court.

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