Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has held a meeting with senior officials from Bombay Muncipal Corporation (BMC), including Municipal Commisioner Ajoy Mehta, Apanalaya and Pyxera Global to find long-term solutions to the problems related to health and lack of basic amenities being faced by slum dwellers.
The meeting took place after Sachin wrote a letter to the BMC in March this year regarding the problems faced by slum dwellers residing near the Deonar dumping ground. The letter was written following an incident of fire in Deonar dumping ground in Mumbai.
Apanalaya is an Non-Governmental Organization, founded by Tendulkar’s mother-in-law Anabelle Mehta, and works with communities and their development issues in and around Deonar and Shivaji Nagar.
According to sources, in the meeting it discussed solution framework proposed by Pyxera Global , which brought out valid points in the way the citizens of Mumbai look at segregation, collection and disposal of waste, and identified lack of awareness and communications as a major stumbling block to change attitudes.
Waste processors
It also suggested an approach whereby rag pickers need to be re-designated as ‘waste processors’ for the challenging work they do under dire circumstances for the city of Mumbai and must be taken on board as partners in resolving the garbage dumping issue at Deonar and other dumps.
Tendulkar was also heartened to see the Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta take a proactive approach to the issue and reaffirming his support to slowly transform the dump into a scientific waste processing plant.
For his part, Tendulkar has also reportedly said in the meeting that Mumbai among all metropolitan cities should take the lead in setting the example to resolve the garbage dumping problem. He has expressed his full support to this cause as the Swachh Bharat ambassador and also cited the Prime Minister’s vision of a clean India in the near future.
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