Around four lakh residents staying near Aadharwadi dumping ground in Kalyan will breathe fresh air. The residents were complaining about the polluted air and health related issues due to the smoke from the dumping ground for the last 37 years. The landfill was closed following the 'zero garbage programme' initiated by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation a year ago.
After the Aadharwadi dumping ground in Kalyan was completely closed for dumping waste on May 25, 2021, on Wednesday Vijay Suryanvanshi, Municipal Commissioner, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation visited the dumping ground along with Ramdas Kokare, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, solid waste management, KDMC. It was announced that the waste in the ground will be segregated. Further the commissioner announced that the dumping ground will be beautified into a garden, cycling and walking track.
Kokare who initiated the zero waste management programe said the dumping ground was started outside the city in 1963. But residential societies started coming in the nearby areas from 1990. "We started the zero garbage programe on May 25, 2020 a year ago. Instead of delaying the work due to the pandemic we started it. As we have to think about the health issues faced by lakhs of residents who stay nearby," added Kokare explaining how the residents were blaming the authorities for the polluted air from the dumping ground. He even added how locals were complaining to shut down the dumping ground since the last 37 years and had even filed a PIL in high court in 2007 to close it.
The Aadhardwadi dumping ground is spread over six acres of land used to receive 650 tonnes of garbage from the complete Kalyan-Dombivli city. "Since, the last one year it was receiving 100 tonnes to 50 tonnes of garbage and it was completely closed on May 25. Now instead of sending the garbage to the dumping ground. We will send it to the treatment and processing centre at Umbarde that has a capacity of 350 metric tonnes and Barave which has a capacity of 200 metric tonnes. At present around 50 metric tonnes of garbage is compost or treated at the residential societies itself. We will try to increase it to 100 metric tonnes. Also, around 5 metric tonnes of dry waste is sent to private companies, which we will increase to 100 tonnes in the coming days," added Kokare.
Kokare further added, "People blame the Municipal Corporation or authorities for the waste. But it's the equal responsibility of the citizens too. Awareness about cleanliness among citizens is very important. Firstly, they should segregate the waste in society and recycle it. Secondly they should stop using plastic and third they should stop throwing garbage on the road. It will further make the city clean," he added.
