Residents send notice to MSPCB over Govandi biomedical waste unit

City generating twice the amount of biomedical waste due to Covid-19; plant throwing up thick smoke, leading to a rash of respiratory and skin diseases in the population

One-hundred residents of M (East) Ward, comprising Deonar, Govandi, Mankhurd, Zakir Nagar and Annabhau Sathe Nagar, have sent a legal notice to the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) for not taking action against a biomedical waste unit in the area.

The city is generating twice the amount of biomedical waste due to Covid-19, but has only one facility to process it. The treatment plant of SMS Envoclean Pvt Ltd has been throwing up thick smoke for the past two months, allegedly leading to a rash of respiratory and skin diseases in the population.

The notice, dated September 11 and sent by advocate Saif Alam, said: “It’s a final reminder to the board to take immediate action and remove the plant from this area and find an alternative space far from the city where there is less population.”

Alam urged MSPCB to form a committee to look into the matter. “I hope the residents of Govandi get relief and we hope that the plant is banned and reconstructed somewhere else far from the city,” he said.

The advocate added that failure to take action will result in “legal consequences, as we proceed towards the National Green Tribunal under Section 14 of National Green Tribunal Act of 2010”.

Section 14 says the tribunal will have jurisdiction over all civil cases where a substantial question relating to the environment (including enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment) is involved.

Sheikh Faiyaz Alam, who runs the NGO New Sangam Welfare Society and has been following the issue, said the state pollution board had turned a blind eye to the issue. “I had registered complaints with the Central Pollution Control Board on July 19, 25 and 27 on social media. The complaint was acknowledged by the board, which asked MSPCB on July 27-28 to investigate the matter and take appropriate action. It was the duty of the state board to immediately address the issue,” he said.

In August, Mumbai Mirror had highlighted the problems people were facing because of the biomedical waste. The company had admitted that daily load at the facility had increased from 10 tonne to 20 tonne over the past few months, and demanded an alternative space for its unit from the BMC. MSPCB officials did not respond to calls and text messages.