Municipal commissioner to inspect the plant on Tuesday.
Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Angry farmers staying in the neighbourhood of the wet garbage processing plant in Chikalthana locked the plant after the poisonous liquid (leachate) started overflowing in their yields on Sunday. Every year the issue gets raised during monsoon. Hence the farmers demanded the municipal administration to find out a permanent solution to leachate like it has been done at Padegaon plant.
Five years ago, the farmers in the periphery had opposed the construction of a plant in Chikalthana. However, the civic officials had assured them of taking all safety measures to save their health and crops in the farms.
According to the farmers the wells and the farms in the neighbourhood of the plant are reeling under danger due to overflowing of leachate. The standing crops get withered and water in the wells get polluted.
A separate tank has been constructed to store the leachate, but it overflows in monsoon every year. Hence the farmers demanded a permanent solution to the issue. However, the civic administration is not paying towards their demand.
Angry farmers on Sunday afternoon locked the garbage plant and threatened that they will not unlock the plant until a permanent solution is not taken on the issue. They also underlined they will not step back even if the CSMC files cases against them. The agitating farmers included Nilesh Kavade, Somnath Pawar, Santosh Sutre, Amol Giri, Ramesh Navpute, Ankush Kavade, Bhaskar Kavade, Raosaheb Kavade, Digambar Kavade, Narayan Gavhane, Mukteshwar Karwande, Shankar Navpute and 50-60 others.
The farmers pointed out that heaps of unprocessed garbage have been formed on the campus of the plant. The raw smell emanating from the plant is posing a health threat to all residents staying nearby. Hence the civic administration should settle our grievances on priority, they claimed.
Earlier, Padegaon plant was also having the problem of leachate, but the municipal corporation spent around Rs 1.25 crore and installed a state-of-the-art machine separating water and silt from the leachate. During the testing it has been found that it is purifying 100 per cent of water from the waste.
Meanwhile, the municipal commissioner G Sreekanth along with subordinate officers will be inspecting Chikalthana Plant on Tuesday morning. Accordingly the decision on whether to lay a drainage pipeline or install a water purifying machine to get rid of leachate like Padegaon will be taken tomorrow, said the deputy commissioner Somnath Jadhav.