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Journalism of Courage
PUNE, Oct 4: Pune Cantonment Board executive officer J. Sharma yesterday made it clear that there was no question shifting the board’s trenching ground from its present location at Hadapsar near St. Patrick’s Town.
Sharply reacting to the threat of a rasta roko by members of the Hadapsar Industrial Estate Environmental Group — which has postponed its plan to stage demonstrations on October 5 — he said the board is taking all measures to ensure that the foul smell was reduced considerably. The group has been fighting against dumping of garbage in the area for years on the ground that the board continued to dump garbage even after the expiry of its lease.
The problem, according to the CEO, was chiefly caused by the long spell of monsoon owing to which the board could not complete its programme of digging trenches to dump garbage. With a small work force and the inability of the officials to take garbage vehicles to the middle of the trenching ground, garbage was simply strewn alongside roads resulting in a foul stench. The biosanitizer, developed by a city-based company, can reduce the stench, he said.
Asked about the possibility of shifting from Hadapsar, Sharma said it was not possible as the board would not be able to obtain such a large piece of land elsewhere. Pravin Vermiculture, a private enterprise which offered to set up a pilot plant for vermiculture at the trenching ground, has backed out without offering any reasons. The board is now working on a plan to dig more trenches to dump garbage and use biosanitiser, Sharma said, hoping that this would reduce the present problem to a certain extent. The harangued industrialists now hope for a positive response from defence estates director Malati Krishna Kumar.
