Tata Memorial's ACTREC Director Flags Grave Environmental Hazards Near Cancer Centre In Kharghar, Urges CM Devendra Fadnavis To Act

The Tata Memorial Centre’s Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Kharghar has raised alarm over unregulated stone quarrying activities taking place in the nearby hill region.

About The Letter

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, Director of the Centre, highlighted the dangers posed to the facility located in Sector 22, Kharghar, due to the ongoing illegal quarrying.

Dated July 10, 2025, the letter details the deteriorating environmental conditions caused by intensive blasting and drilling operations on the northwestern hill adjacent to the ACTREC campus. The resulting noise and dust pollution are posing a significant threat to both vulnerable cancer patients and the surrounding ecosystem.

The letter also describes the damage caused by repeated excavation in what was once a lush green area. Explosions and drilling generate deafening noise, while clouds of toxic dust are reported to be infiltrating even the sterile zones of the hospital. Patients undergoing sensitive treatments, such as bone marrow transplants and proton therapy, are said to be the worst affected.

Local residents and senior citizens have already flagged the issue multiple times, citing violations of National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines, which require strict environmental clearances for such quarrying operations clearances that are allegedly being ignored. 

The hospital has expensive advanced cancer care equipment and dust is their enemy," said activist and director of Nat connect Foundation BN Kumar 

“It is unimaginable to have dust particles in the air when cancer patients get treated here,” he said.