Mumbai: Desperate to try and wriggle itself out of the Deonar dumping issue, Maharashtra government today announced that is it looking for an alternative dumping ground.
The proposed site for dumping garbage
If sources are to be believed, authorities are seriously considering Juhu beach as an option.
“We were scouting around for sites and checked out some satellite images. This particular site in Juhu looked already loaded with a lot of garbage. In fact the entire stretch looked perfect for a dumping ground. So we decided to convert it into one and take away some load off Deonar,” said a BMC official.
The decision was met with a mixed response with many lauding the BMC for their effort while others said that the officials are being hasty.
A kachra artist, inspired by Orissa’s sand artist, who converted the beach into a mini art gallery with his kachra installations, is hopeful that his art will now go mainstream.
But not everyone is happy. Gulab Singh (name changed to protect identity) is a disgruntled man. The beach, which has been his go to place for relieving himself early in the morning, will now be inaccessible.
“It used to be my washroom since the time I first migrated here from Bangladesh. I have fond memories of it. Where will we go now? The railway tracks are too far from my house and the metro tracks are too high to climb. At least the Govt. should have built a track along the beach before turning this into a dumping ground,” he said while giving a constipated look.
Sources say that Gulab is not an isolated case. Govt.’s move has affected majority of the shanties along the beach. In a last ditch effort, some of them are pulling a few political strings to stall the move.
“Rahulji is known to understand the pain of of poor people like us. I hope he visits someday, preferably in the morning to feel what we are going through,” said another dweller.
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