Ghats are becoming soft targets for people who want to get rid of unwanted non-biodegradable material. If they have material like thermocol, chemicals or plastic in large quantities they find it easy to dump it here. The forest department doesn’t have any control over it. Medicine dealers and medical representatives dump leftover medicine in ghats. Since land in the ghat area is mostly unused for agriculture or other purposes, it is a safe dumping ground for this chemical material according to them. Over time this uncollected garbage accumulates into large piles.
Dive Ghat on Pune-Saswad Road, earlier it was known for a pleasing drive to go on, but not anymore. Over the last two months, some unidentified individuals have been dumping garbage and using the area as a landfill. Locals have found truckloads of unwanted material such as thermocol, medicine strips and soft drink packets in the ghat.
What makes the situation difficult to control is that the land falls under the purview of the forest department and the road leading to the area that is being used to dump garbage is controlled by the civic body’s Public Works Department. Local activists have alleged that due to the ignorance by local authorities, the dumping of garbage has become even more increased.
Disposable plates and glasses, scraps of meat, waste cushions and medicines are just thrown onto the ghat. Dumping takes place during the night, so these miscreants can make an easy escape before anyone can notice the dumping.
It has been observed that most of the material being dumped here is laden with chemicals. This could threaten the ecology of the area. There are steroids, painkillers and other such antibiotics. A majority of the waste is non-biodegradable. The medicines can pollute the soil, but what is worse is if the livestock consumes this medical waste. It could lead to organ failure and complications in their kidneys or liver. In addition to this, if the medicine percolates in water it could threaten aquatic life in the Mastani Lake located in the ghat.
