Mumbai: Congress stages rasta-roko to demand shifting of Deonar dumping ground

Mumbai, Mar 27: Congress workers on Saturday staged a rasta roko (road blockade) near the Deonar dumping ground here and demanded that it be shifted to Taloja in Navi Mumbai.

The dumping ground at Deonar in the city was in the news recently due to the fire which had broken out there, raising the air pollution levels in eastern suburbs considerably.

City Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam led the protest, The menace of repeated fires at Deonar had pushed lakhs of Mumbaikars into "gas chamber", he said, and accused the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP of "playing with the lives of Mumbaikars".

"Entire Mumbai is turning into a gas chamber and people are forced to live by adjusting with the emission of the toxic gases. We are here to warn the concerned politicians and bureaucrats that this will not be tolerated now and this menace of frequent fires has to stop," he said.

Deonar dumping ground was to be closed in 2000 as it was overfull, but due to lackadaisical approach of the bureaucrats and the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP corporators, it was still in use, he said.

"Solid Waste Management department of Mumbai corporation has a budget of almost Rs 2,000 crore this year, but it could get only 11 cctv cameras (for vigilance at Deonar ground)," he alleged.

PTI