BMC night squads check illegal land filling in Malad

MUMBAI: The BMC has formed night squads to prevent dumping of debris in eco-sensitive areas like mangroves, creeks and nullahs.
The idea is the brainchild of Devendra Jain, assistant commissioner, P(north) ward in Malad-Marve, which comprises a lot of open spaces. Unauthorized dumping of debris on these open plots—most of which belong to the defence ministry and suburban collector—prompted Jain to introduce the concept of night squads in Malad-Marve about two weeks ago.And it has already started showing results. So far, the ward has collected Rs 1.60 lakh from people illegally dumping debris at night.
The night squad comprises a sub-engineer from solid waste management department, junior overseer, mukadams, 2-3 nuisance detectors and trucks from the BMC’s disaster control cell that prevents land-filling.
“The men come in dumpers and their modus-operandi is to cart debris from various places and fill up mangroves, creeks, nullahs at night. They then construct illegal hutments and sell them off to slumdwellers. It’s a kind of land-grabbing. We were receiving complaints from the corporator in Prabhat Samiti,” said Jain.
The debris and rubble is mostly dumped at Mith chowky near the nullah where it touches the Malad creek.
“As our offices are closed during the night, we decided to form night squads. On Tuesday, three vehicles were seized, which had land-filling material. We charge Rs 20,000 as fine for each vehicle. So far, we have seized eight vehicles,” said Jain
A civic official said that such unauthorized dumping usually goes unnoticed as it is conducted silently at night.
“Our squad had kept watch at Mith chowky, on the junction of Link Road and Marve Road. On Wednesday night, at Malwani near Charkop naka towards Marve, we caught the offenders as they were in the process of dumping rubble at the spot,” said Jain.
The night squad then filed an FIR against the dumper driver and owner.
“We have written to the Malwani police station to take action against the offenders. We are trying to save eco-sensitive areas from being encroached upon,” said Jain.
The ward has also written to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and collector to keep check on such illegal activities.