Mumbai: Following stiff opposition from residents, the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) has withdrawn the proposal for shifting the land reservation of a dumping ground and sewage treatment plant (STP) from Achole in Vasai east to Gaas village in the west.
In Jan-end, the VVCMC had proposed the shifting of the land reservation, along with a special development zone plan, and sent them to the state govt for approval under the 37/1 rule of Development Control Rules, said Dhananjay Gawade of Swaraj Abhiyaan, who uploaded a video about the proposal in the last week of Feb, pointing out that only a couple of days were left to submit suggestions and objections. Soon, the town planning department received around 2,500 objections saying the dumping ground and STP would be hazardous to villages like Gaas, Chulne, Navghar and Achole.
While deputy town planner Y S Reddy said ads were issued in newspapers, locals claimed no boards were put up at the proposed sites.
Gawade further said that VVCMC’s decision to cancel the proposal is “just half the battle won”. “We still oppose the special development zone planned on hundreds of acres in Vasai west which houses water bodies and holding ponds,”: he added.
The municipal commissioner is not empowered to shift the land reservation near Gaas village as the issue of shifting 29 villages out of VVCMC is still pending, pointed out Congress party worker Jimmy Gonsalves. He added that had the dumping grounf and STP come up on these plots, lakhs of villagers would have automatically come within 1km range of pollution.