To
Shri Tanmay Kumar
Union Secretary
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MEFCC)
Dear Shri Tanmay Kumar,
I refer to a recent news report which indicates that the Maharashtra government and the Adani Group propose to “dump” 50,000-1,00,000 people affected by the 296-acre Dharavi Redevelopment Project in the nearby, still active, Deonar “waste dump” “spewing toxic gases and discharging leachate (the liquid that drains out of waste piles, potentially contaminating groundwater, surface water and the soil with toxic organic and inorganic pollutants“)
Evidently, locating such a large number of people in an active waste dump violates the CPCB guidelines of 2021. The report based on information meticulously collected by the reporter also indicates that CPCB in its report submitted on 4-7-2024 to the NGT (OA No. 247/2024 -NGT Principal Bench) mentioned “an average 6,202 kg of methane being emitted from the Deonar landfill every hour, making it one of the top 22 methane hotspots in India”
Unless the area where the residents of Dharavi are proposed to be rehabilitated is certified by CPCB to be 100% fit for such rehabilitation, it will be imprudent on the part of the Maharashtra Govt to allow such rehabilitation. In my view, in addition to such relocation of the residents of Dharavi in Deonar dump site constituting a serious infringement of the statutory environmental norms, it would also constitute a far more serious violation of the human rights of the affected people, which no responsible government can afford to allow.
In addition to the above, the Maharashtra government has evidently agreed to set apart 256 acres of salt pan lands for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maharashtra/maharashtra-govt-approves-256-acres-of-salt-pan-land-for-dharavi-redevelopment/article69436365.ece). The CRZ Notification classifies “salt marshes” as covered under CRZ I, where construction activity is to be strictly prohibited. As such, the State government ought not to have allocated such salt pan lands for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.
May I appeal to MEFCC to intervene suo moto and make sure that the project proponent does not resort to violating the statutory environmental norms and does not do anything that amounts to violating the human rights of the affected people?
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
