Pune: Residents of Moshi, Chikhali, and Dudulgaon will stage a protest march on Nov 5 to demand relocation of Moshi garbage depot and decentralisation of waste processing across Pimpri Chinchwad. The agitation comes nearly four months after a landfill collapse at the site on July 8 claimed nine lives.The decision was taken at a meeting on Thursday attended by residents, activists, and political representatives cutting across party lines. Residents alleged that Moshi continues to bear the burden of the entire city’s waste, affecting public health and hampering development in the area. They claimed that methane emissions and foul odours from the depot have caused respiratory and skin ailments within a five-km radius.They also alleged that hazardous slurry from the facility is being discharged into Indrayani river, polluting the water and affecting livestock and farming in surrounding areas.Local corporator and former mayor Nitin Kalje said Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is exploring options to decentralise waste processing but is facing opposition from residents at every proposed site.“If residents in other areas do not want waste facilities in their neighbourhoods, why should Moshi bear the burden? Dumping the entire city’s waste at one location is unfair to the people living nearby,” he said.Local BJP corporator Nikhil Borhade said the protest would shape the future of Moshi and its surrounding areas. Residents, including women and children, will participate, he said. “We will continue our agitation until waste processing is decentralised,” he added.NCP office-bearer and former corporator Dhananjay Alhat said the administration has failed to act despite repeated representations. “Residents have now decided to take to the streets, with a large protest march planned on the road leading to the Moshi waste depot. The administration must take our demands seriously and decentralise waste processing by setting up facilities in every ward instead of dumping the entire city’s waste at a single location in Moshi. If no action is taken, the agitation will intensify,” he said.Residents noted that the civic body had promised to establish decentralised waste-processing facilities across the city after the July 8 collapse, but there has been little progress on the proposal.The protest comes amid opposition in Ravet to PCMC’s proposed waste-to-energy plant on MIDC land. The civic body has sought land from the state govt for the project, but residents have started protesting against it even before the govt has taken a final decision.In Sept, municipal commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi announced that the civic body had identified one site in each zonal office area for setting up waste-processing facilities. He stated that the PCMC would move towards decentralised waste management, meaning no new dumping depots would be created and daily waste would be processed locally. The civic body also published a list of the identified plots. However, the proposal quickly faced opposition from residents in several areas.PCMC currently has only one waste depot, spread across more than 81 acres in Moshi. The civic body had earlier proposed another facility in Punawale but scrapped the plan following protests by residents backed by local politicians, as well as directives from the state government. The issue was also raised in the state legislative assembly.The July 8 collapse exposed severe vulnerabilities in the city’s waste-management system. The Moshi depot remained closed for more than three weeks after the accident, disrupting garbage collection and disposal across the city. PCMC continues to face structural challenges, as its largest waste-processing unit—the one involved in the incident—has yet to resume operations.With the existing landfill at Moshi already full, the civic body is struggling to manage the city’s daily waste generation of around 1,300 to 1,500 tonnes. A senior PCMC official told TOI, “Proposals are being prepared to set up waste processing facilities at all the proposed locations, and steps are being taken for decentralisation of waste management.”
