Thane, Jul 24 (PTI) The authorities of Tata Memorial Centre in Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar have written to the Maharashtra government alleging that unchecked and illegal stone quarrying at a hill near their medical facility has not only damaged its structure but also put the lives of patients at risk.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, Director of Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), known as Tata Memorial Centre, has raised this issue in a letter written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on July 10.
“I am writing to express deep concern over the escalating noise and dust pollution caused by unregulated stone quarrying adjacent to the Tata Memorial Centre-ACTREC in Kharghar. The northwest hill near our cancer treatment facility has been severely impacted with multiple pits excavated and green cover obliterated. Blasting with explosives, followed by intensive drilling generates deafening noise and toxic dust clouds, jeopardizing both patient health and our fragile environment,” it said.
These quarrying activities have persisted for decades, with extracted stone being crushed for construction, violating environmental norms and destroying wetlands, it added.
The resulting dust blankets some residential areas and infiltrates even the sterile treatment zones within the hospital. This poses a significant threat to immunocompromised patients undergoing life-saving treatments, making them vulnerable to airborne particulate infiltration, Dr Chaturvedi said in the letter to the CM.
Senior citizens and local residents have pointed to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) guidelines, which mandate environmental clearances for quarrying and regulate blasting near inhabited areas. The morning visibility is deteriorating, exposing commuters to unsafe conditions, and pollution has turned the region into a hotspot of environmental degradation, it said.
The letter added that the stone quarrying has damaged the hospital buildings, including cracked beams and slabs, resulting from rainwater seepage, fostering fungal growth, thereby creating further hazards.
“We earnestly request your immediate intervention to halt these destructive quarrying practices. Protecting the health and lives of our cancer patients, preserving biodiversity and maintaining the integrity of eco-sensitive zones must be a collective priority,” Dr Chaturvedi said. PTI COR NP
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