Despite the presence of a common treatment plant for disposal of hazardous industrial waste at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s (MIDC’s) Ranjangaon facility, some units from its Chakan belt seem to have taken to dumping their effluents at the edge of the new Indrayani bridge. Nobody knows which are these errant businesses and, remarkably, authorities seem clueless about the practice.

“I am really shocked to hear this. This is the first time such a complaint has been received. We provided a common treatment plant at Ranjangaon as random disposal of such waste is strictly prohibited and we believe the units have been adhering to the norm. We will inspect the spots identified soon,” MIDC’s regional officer AjitDeshmukh told Pune Mirror.

While MIDC is still waking up to this reality, commuters using the bridge, particularly those working in the industrial hub have to negotiate around these bags of black sand from the furnaces, rexine pieces, chemicals from powder coating units, thermocol and even e-waste, strewn along their path. It is not as if the affected have not registered their complaint. They knocked the doors of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) time and again, without any resolution.

“It is really sad that a well-developed industrial cluster such as the Chakan-Talegaon belt should witness such dumping. My suspicion is that these are coming from the units at Kudhalwadi, Chikhali and also MIDC’s Bhosari set-up. Recently, I spied the waste being brought in tempos and emptied here. I clicked pictures and shared it with the PCMC commissioner,” informed DhananjayShedbale, director of Deeksha Exports Pvt Ltd. But, clearly the issue has not been percolated to the people who can act or they too are busy passing the buck.

“The issue has never been brought to the notice of my department. I only handle the Moshi garbage depot. You can get more information from the health department,” said Sanjay Kulkarni, executive engineer, PCMC’s environment department.

“The health department only collects domestic waste. Industrial waste is a matter for MIDC. We sometimes collect packing waste of industries with special permission but never hazardous chemical waste,” insisted ChandrakantKhose, assistant commissioner, health department, PCMC.

Underscoring this lacunae in the service provided in the industrial belt, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Small Industries Association president, Sandeep Belsare pointed out, “There is no proper facility of waste collection here. Even the daily waste don’t get collected on time by the civic administration. Most of the collection here is done by the scrap dealers.”

“The authority concerned must act with an urgency to resolve the situation. As the area comes under PCMC, the civic body should increase patrolling at the spot to prevent the dumping and mete out severe punishment to the violators who are impacting the health of lakhs of people commuting through the stretch,” urged Vijay Patil, president of PradhikaranKritiSamiti, an NGO. Also seeking quick action, Vijay Munot, a local resident, added, “It should all happen in summer, before the monsoon sets in. During the rains, the waste that are dumped on the bank of Indrayani will run into the river, spelling more menace.”

Confronted by the task, MIDC officials are talking of getting help from the other agencies to address the issue. “We will inform Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for a joint drive to identify the culprits. We will also draw PCMC into the process,” said Deshmukh.