The recent fires at the Mulund dumping ground have an unlikely by-product: a class war between residents of high rises who are seeking its closure and slum dwellers who say their very existence depends on the waste.
On Monday, a fire broke out at the dumping ground, the second such blaze in the last fortnight. Close to a dozen fire engines doused it, but small pockets continue to simmer, leaving residents fuming. “The fire is caused by the gas (methane) and cannot be stopped. But the dumping ground can be closed,” says Sheetal Bhoir, a resident of Hari Om Nagar, a building complex nearby. She says colony members cannot open their windows for the fear of smoke, foul smell and flies.
For the slum dwellers, though, there is no room for health concerns. Kishan Jadhav, who has been living in this slum pocket since 1992, points to the many families who depend on the dumping ground for their livelihood. “They sell plastic sifted from the garbage to meet their food needs,” he says. “Filth doesn’t bother them and the fire doesn’t scare them.” An elderly woman resident said the fire didn’t affect her because it only affects the top of the garbage hill.
“Ragpickers are the lifeline of a waste management system,” says Stalin Dayanand, who heads environmental NGO Vanashakti. “The answer is not closing the grounds, but conforming to laws. If the Municipal Solid Wastes) Rules 2000 and Maharashtra Prevention of Non-Biodegradable Garbage Control Act are followed, most problems will be solved.”
Minesh Timble, deputy chief engineer of solid waste management, says a tender will soon be floated to divert the garbage to Kanjurmarg, and also recover the land. “We need at-source segregation. The garbage dumped in Mulund has already reduced from 3,500 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes,” Timble says.
Slum dwellers, on the other hand, have settled into a rhythm around the dumping ground. They fetch water from the lake at the base of the dumpyard, get their food from the money collected after rag picking, set some footwear alight if they want light and warmth, and when a person dies, they bury them under the garbage heap.
If the police break their shanties, they rebuild them in no time. Shortage of potable water, unhygienic living conditions, frequent deaths from malaria, tuberculosis, and poor healthcare facilities are no deterrent to living in this dumping ground. A resident says he would rather shift to the fringes of the Kanjurmarg dumping ground, than a replacement Mhada Colony.
“Gas vent pipes and leachate collection systems can come to the rescue,” says Mr Stalin.
A tender will soon be floated to divert the garbage to the dumping ground at Kanjurmarg
