Mumbai: A day after the Bombay high court warned the BMC that if methane emissions caused by mismanagement of Kanjurmarg dumping site and their ill-effects are not curtailed soon, it would be restrained to stop all “activities” there and would require authorities to look for an alternative site, Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe visited the landfill on Saturday.During the two-hour surprise visit to the dumping ground and the waste treatment facility, the two judges, who are hearing a petition filed by Kannamwar Nagar residents highlighting concerns over rising pollution at the ground, were given a presentation on the processes adopted, including recycling, and other uses derived from waste, such as generating power using methane gas.Kanjurmarg landfill was recently ranked the 12th highest methane-emitting site globally, according to a 2026 study by the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, around 6,300 metric tonnes (MT) or 90% of the city’s total municipal solid waste is transported daily to the Kanjurmarg dumping ground.During Saturday’s visit, the HC judges voiced their concerns over the proximity of the dumping ground to the crowded residential area of Kannamwar Nagar and large mangrove areas.A BMC team presented the series of mitigation activities it had undertaken and the procedures employed to ensure waste is converted to useful material.Civic officials said the judges and team of lawyers, including senior civic counsel Anil Sakhare, state lawyer Jyoti Chavan, Kannamwar CHS counsel Abhijeet Rane, and the advocate Saket Mone, saw the entire processing plant, the material recovery facility, and tarpomatic coverings that have been placed.Civic officials said they also presented the report by the high-powered monitoring committee set up in Jan on the Kanjurmarg municipal solid waste processing facility, recommending immediate odour-control measures, engineering upgrades, and a long-term shift to advanced waste-processing technologies.
