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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This...

Shinde dilutes demand

Likely to be content with Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai Mumbai: In a decisive shift that redraws the power dynamics of Maharashtra’s urban politics, the standoff over the prestigious Mumbai Mayor’s post has ended with a strategic compromise. Following days of resort politics and intense backroom negotiations, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has reportedly diluted its demand for the top job in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), settling instead for the Deputy Mayor’s post. This development, confirmed by high-ranking party insiders, follows the realization that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) effectively ceded its claims on the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to protect the alliance, facilitating a “Mumbai for BJP, Kalyan for Shinde” power-sharing formula. The compromise marks a complete role reversal between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Both the political parties were in alliance with each other for over 25 years before 2017 civic polls. Back then the BJP used to get the post of Deputy Mayor while the Shiv Sena always enjoyed the mayor’s position. In 2017 a surging BJP (82 seats) had paused its aggression to support the undivided Shiv Sena (84 seats), preferring to be out of power in the Corporation to keep the saffron alliance intact. Today, the numbers dictate a different reality. In the recently concluded elections BJP emerged as the single largest party in Mumbai with 89 seats, while the Shinde faction secured 29. Although the Shinde faction acted as the “kingmaker”—pushing the alliance past the majority mark of 114—the sheer numerical gap made their claim to the mayor’s post untenable in the long run. KDMC Factor The catalyst for this truce lies 40 kilometers north of Mumbai in Kalyan-Dombivali, a region considered the impregnable fortress of Eknath Shinde and his son, MP Shrikant Shinde. While the BJP performed exceptionally well in KDMC, winning 50 seats compared to the Shinde faction’s 53, the lotter for the reservation of mayor’s post in KDMC turned the tables decisively in favor of Shiv Sena there. In the lottery, the KDMC mayor’ post went to be reserved for the Scheduled Tribe candidate. The BJP doesn’t have any such candidate among elected corporatros in KDMC. This cleared the way for Shiv Sena. Also, the Shiv Sena tied hands with the MNS in the corporation effectively weakening the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s alliance with them. Party insiders suggest that once it became clear the BJP would not pursue the KDMC Mayor’s chair—effectively acknowledging it as Shinde’s fiefdom—he agreed to scale down his demands in the capital. “We have practically no hope of installing a BJP Mayor in Kalyan-Dombivali without shattering the alliance locally,” a Mumbai BJP secretary admitted and added, “Letting the KDMC become Shinde’s home turf is the price for securing the Mumbai Mayor’s bungalow for a BJP corporator for the first time in history.” The formal elections for the Mayoral posts are scheduled for later this month. While the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—led by the Shiv Sena (UBT)—has vowed to field candidates, the arithmetic heavily favors the ruling alliance. For Eknath Shinde, accepting the Deputy Mayor’s post in Mumbai is a tactical retreat. It allows him to consolidate his power in the MMR belt (Thane and Kalyan) while remaining a partner in Mumbai’s governance. For the BJP, this is a crowning moment; after playing second fiddle in the BMC for decades, they are poised to finally install their own “First Citizen” of Mumbai.

‘Anatomy’ of Landfill- Open Dumping Ground

Updated: Nov 18, 2024

Landfill

In my article last week, I had written about the basic composition of garbage that piles up on a dumping ground in hundreds and thousands of tons. If it was only plastic waste, there wouldn’t be much problem. If, it was only the waste papers, cardboards and tetra packs, there wouldn’t be much problem. If, it was only clothing or textile material, there wouldn’t be much problem. If, it was only the electrical and electronic waste, there wouldn’t be much problem. If, it was only the kitchen waste, there wouldn’t be much problem.


So the problem, not just one..but many problems leading to NIMBY mentality of the people is because of such deadly mixture of the waste materials that get accumulated on a dumping ground. There are multiple reasons for people protesting and refusing to have a dumping ground in the vicinity of their residences. While having an open dumping ground is financially and technically much more advantageous for the urban local bodies, it is extremely hazardous for the environment and poses threat to health as well.


Let’s see now how it is advantageous to the urban local bodies to have open dumping ground. First, there is no need to ‘prepare’ the site for accommodating the waste material. It gets dumped as it is brought by those trucks or compacters to the site. Secondly, there is no need to have a system for ‘compaction’ of the waste. In fact, compaction is essential process to minimize the volume of waste such that more waste can be accommodated in relatively smaller space. But it requires additional machinery and, of course, additional costs. Next there is no provision for management of the ‘leachate’. Oh! Come on. What is this stuff? Hold on very easy to understand.


As the waste on such open dumping ground is heterogenous, many entities in this huge pile or heap react with each other and in the process, generate a deadly, hazardous toxic liquid, ‘LEACHATE’.


Being liquidish, leachate slowly runs down and accumulates at the bottom of the garbage pile, and further sips or percolates down in the soil. This results in severe loss of soil biodiversity. Extremely useful organisms like soil bacteria, earthworms and many other cannot tolerate the toxicants present in this leachate. This ultimately results in contamination and degradation of the soil.


Many good quality, fertile soils have been severely degraded because of this. Such soil is practically ‘dead’ and is rendered useless for the growth of any vegetation whatsoever. Ok. Soil is lost. What next? Well, when it rains, this leachate further flows down below the soil and eventually enters the underground aquifers thereby polluting the groundwater which is such a precious natural resource on which we, the humans are dependent. Understood? Furthermore, such chemical reactions also generate toxic and foul smelling gases which spread easily through the air adding to the air pollution. More about this in the next article.


(The author is an environment specialist. Views personal.)

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