Toxic waste removed from Bavla farm after a year

After nearly a year tied up in red tape, tonnes of toxic waste dumped on private farmland at Rasam village in Bavla taluka is finally being cleared.

On July 19 last year, 70 200-litre drums of effluent and around a tonne of toxic sludge had been dumped at the spot.

A large volume of wastewater had also been discharged in the middle of an agricultural lake, which was posing a threat for contaminating groundwater source.

By February this year, most of the effluent had evaporated. Sources reported about the dumping on November 1 last year and the subsequent inaction of the authorities on February 16 this year.

Bavla police in July arrested three men Ramanji Thakor, a truck driver, and his two cleaners Muman Sulia and Manuji Thakor, all from Patan for dumping the waste near a brick kiln in Rasam village.

Police informed the GPCB, which sent a team to the spot, collected samples and found large-scale dumping.