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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture....

Plea in HC for fresh polls, new body

Dr. Rumi F. Beramji Mumbai : A senior medical practitioner has knocked on the doors of the Bombay High Court, alleging serious irregularities in the functioning of the Maharashtra Council of Acupuncture (MCA) and challenging the continuation of its current Administrator.   In a petition filed through Advocate Sharad V. Natu, Dr. Laxman Bhimrao Sawant has termed the appointment and prolonged tenure of former MCA Chairman as “illegal and arbitrary,”  and detrimental to the cause of Acupuncture.   Dr. Beramji, who headed the five-member statutory body 's inaugural term (from May 2018 to May 2023), was subsequently appointed as its Administrator after the council’s term expired.   According to Dr. Sawant’s plea, the Administrator’s appointment was initially meant to be a stop-gap arrangement for one year, and it was ‘extended’ later. However, nearly three years later, the position continues without fresh elections being conducted, raising questions over adherence to statutory norms and principles of governance.   Dr. Sawant has further contended that while Dr. Beramji was installed as Administrator, the remaining members of the council were effectively superseded, leaving the regulatory body without its mandated collective structure, and over 6500-members directionless.   The petition claims that the delay in conducting elections was justified on the grounds of an incomplete voter list, but this reason was flimsy considering the extended time lapse.   The petition, likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday (April 21), also levelled serious allegations regarding the manner in which the MCA has been run under the Administrator. It claims decisions have been taken unilaterally, whimsically and without transparency or institutional accountability.   Besides, Dr. Sawant has made allegations of selective targeting of certain members who have attempted to raise valid issues, including the globally-renowned noted acupuncture expert Dr. P. B. Lohiya of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.   Adding to the controversy, a former MCA office-bearer has claimed that over the past three years, approvals were granted to more than a dozen acupuncture colleges in undue haste, purportedly in violation of prescribed norms and alleged shady deals.   These institutions, it is claimed, either exist only on paper or lack essential infrastructure, faculty, and facilities. In addition, around two dozen Continuous Acupuncture Education (CAE) centres were also cleared during this period.   In his multiple prayers to the high court, Dr. Sawant has sought quashing Dr. Beramji’s appointment as MCA Administrator and setting aside all policy decisions taken during his tenure in that capacity in the last three years.   The petition also urged the court to direct the state government to conduct elections to elect and reconstitute a new five-member MCA within two months.   Pending this, the plea seeks an order restraining the Administrator from continuing in office or interfering in the functioning of the MCA or the CAEs in the interest of free and fair elections or the cause of Acupuncture.   Sources within the MCA have described the situation as “deeply concerning,” alleging that individuals of international standing, such as Dr. Lohiya - who has treated prominent personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, the late Manoj Kumar, state and central ministers and other public figures - are being unfairly hounded.   The petition has called for a comprehensive review of all decisions taken during the Administrator’s tenure, a financial audit of the MCA’s financial affairs, and an independent probe by the Medical Education & Drugs Department (MEDD) into the approvals granted to the institutions in recent years.   Despite repeated attempts by  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ , top MCA officials like the Administrator or the Registrar Narayan Nawale, were not available for their comments.

‘Anatomy’ of Landfills Open Dumping Ground

Garbage collected from various locations in the city is finally transported to it’s final and ultimate destination that is, landfill. There are three types of landfills namely Open Dump, Controlled Dump and Sanitary or Secured Landfill. As mentioned in the earlier articles, an open dump is any open space belonging to and lying within the jurisdiction of urban local body. It is basically an open space or plot reserved for dumping of garbage. It is usually poorly sited without any predetermined capacity to hold garbage. It does not require any special site preparation or arrangement as such. It is open and accessible to all, including rag pickers. There is no provision of any record keeping as such. There is no mechanism for sorting or for segregation of waste that is brought here. When you visit such open dump and try to ‘look’ inside it, you would find the following different types of so-called ‘waste’ items.


Plastic Waste: Includes articles right from plastic carry bags to toys, trays, vessels, cups and other utensils, straws, multilayered plastic pouches, sachets so on and so forth. Along with these, you would see broken plastic furniture, bottles, and similar other articles. You can also see waste rubber tires and tubes which have become worn out and hence are discarded in the garbage.


Cardboards, Tetra pack waste: Right from the toothpaste packaging to many different types of cardboard packaging, right from small tetra packs containing Fruti, coffee and similar types of beverages to larger tetra pack containers are usually thrown in the dustbins after their contents are consumed. Apart from this, waste newspapers, tissue papers and many different types of paper are also discarded These eventually end up in the dumping grounds.


Biodegradable Waste: This includes waste generated in the kitchens. Fruit peels, scraps and shreds of different types of vegetables, left over food and similar items form this category of waste. The final destination for this waste is, of course, the dumping ground. Some other types of biodegradable waste include carcasses of the dead animals like rats and dogs or cats etc.


Electrical and electronic waste: Dead, worn out and end-of the life equipment like bulbs, tube lights, mobile phones, batteries and many other similar appliances are discarded and end up in the dumping ground.

Debris: This includes dirt, pieces of bricks and stones, cement, sand boulders etc. which are generated during building demolition and construction, excavation for construction activities like roads, bridges, flyovers and so on. All such waste is also brought to the dumping ground.


These are some major types of waste material that piles up at the dumping ground. Now, while reading about these different types of waste getting piled up at the dumping ground, you can easily understand what a mess we are creating by dumping all this waste together at one place!


Such ‘heterogenous’ nature of waste is responsible for several environmental hazards and pose grave danger to the human health. More about these hazards in the next article. Till then, have a good, ‘waste free’ weekend!


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

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