Civic staff found burning garbage in Pune’s Baner area
The illegal burning of waste and dry leaves is rampant in areas like NH-48 highway, Bitwise Terratower, Mohan Nagar, Kia Showroom and Spice Court almost all parts of Baner
Despite the ban rampant burning of garbage in Baner remains a perennial issue. Residents claim the sanitary staff of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) between 7.30 am and 9.30 am burn the trash at multiple locations in Baner and the adjoining Balewadi area.
The illegal burning of waste and dry leaves is rampant in areas like NH-48 highway, Bitwise Terratower, Mohan Nagar, Kia Showroom and Spice Court almost all parts of Baner, they said.
Dhiraj Nambiar, a resident of Baner, informed that a similar incident was reported on Wednesday morning near the Kia showroom and the issue is a perennial. “I have complained to the PMC about the illegal waste burning in our area. However, despite several complaints by citizens in the past, no action has been taken by the civic body,” he said.
“The sanitary staff clean and sweep the area and collect the waste and dry leaves which they burn later. Multiple herds of waste are burned at a distance of 500 meters at multiple locations. The entire air quality in the area deteriorates,” added Nambiar.
Following rampant illegal burning of garbage, PMC in May 2024 increased the penalty for illegal garbage burning tenfold from the existing ₹500 to ₹5,000. However, the effective implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 in the city remains on paper.
From October 2023 to September 24, as many as 1,423 people have been penalised and a fine of ₹8,98,500 has been collected, said officials.
Another resident, Ameya Jagtap, said, “We have been following up on the issue with PMC and also provided the entire list of locations where the illegal burning of waste is frequent.”
“The dry waste is lifted once a week which is not enough for a locality with such a huge population. Small vendors and hoteliers dump their waste in locations that have dry leave waste. The civic staff burn the entire waste together without clearing it,” he said.
Jagtap said there needs to be a permanent solution to this serious issue. “There is no proper system in place by the PMC to lift the waste at regular intervals. There is a need for a system to monitor the cleaning and lifting of waste,” he added.
Girish Dhapkekar, assistant commissioner of Aundh ward office, PMC, assured to look into the issue. “I will speak with the team working in that respective area and ask them to refrain the staff from such activities and clear the waste regularly,” he said.
