Stench of neglect: Citizens gasp for clean air around Kanjurmarg landfill

When 42-year-old Manish Kumar moved from Kalyan to an apartment in Parivar Society, Kanjurmarg East, he achieved both upward mobility and a Mumbai dream — living close to his office.

However, the past two years have been marked by sleepless nights and repeated visits to the hospital for his five-year-old daughter, who is battling persistent coughs. His residence, barely 700 meters from the landfill, is constantly engulfed in foul odour that intensifies during the night and early hours.

“We shut the windows in the house, but those in the washroom have to be kept open. The stench there is unbearable in the morning,” said Kumar, who is battling infections and shortness of breath.

Doctors have linked both his and his daughter’s illnesses to emissions from the landfill.

The landfill, the bane of residents such as Kumar, is Mumbai’s largest — spread across 141.77 hectares, of which 118.41 hectares are operational. Built on what was once a salt pan, the facility processes nearly 6,200 tonnes of waste every day and sits amid densely populated neighbourhoods – both slums and upscale residential towers.

The Kanjurmarg landfill drew global attention in April this year after it was ranked among the world’s top 25 methane-emitting dumpsites in a study by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Based on satellite observations in 2025, the study ranked Kanjurmarg 12th globally, estimating methane emissions at 4.9 tonnes per hour.

The report noted that while many landfills worldwide emit only a few dozen kilograms of methane per hour, sites on its “top 25” list released between 3.6 and 7.5 tonnes every hour. The highest emitter identified in the study was Campo de Mayo landfill in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with emissions of 7.6 tonnes per hour.

Apart from Kanjurmarg, another functional landfill under the jurisdiction of BMC is Deonar, with the Mulund dumping being officially shut in 2018 and undergoing biomining and reclamation work.

The Deonar dumping ground, established in 1927, is India’s oldest and among the largest landfill sites. The Kanjurmarg landfill currently handles a substantial portion of Mumbai’s daily waste, especially after the closure of the Mulund site. The Deonar dumping ground handles around 600 tons of fresh garbage daily. The landfill holds nearly 18.5 million tonnes of legacy waste.

Residents of Mumbai’s eastern suburbs have been raising concerns over odour from the Kanjurmarg landfill since 2016, when they first approached HC seeking relief. Nearly a decade later, even as authorities claim to have identified the causes of the emissions, residents continue to wait for a permanent solution.

But families such as Kumar’s who are considering relocating are stuck as they have poured their life’s savings into their houses.

Sandeep Kumar, 51, a Vikhroli resident who lives on one of the higher floors of a tower is equally a victim of the foul odour. “We can smell it even from the 23rd floor,” he said. “When we open the windows for fresh air, all we get is this stench, which worsens during the monsoons.”

Jayshree Khillari, 65, a resident of Society No. 5 in Kannamwar Nagar, said residents are perpetually told to use room fresheners to mask the odour. “But how long can people keep hiding the stink? The problem needs to be addressed,” she said.

Medical practitioners living close to the landfill have seen a spike in respiratory disorders among their patients. Vikhroli based Dr Yogesh Bhalerao, working president of the Integrated Doctors Association, has seen a spike in cases of asthma, bronchitis, persistent respiratory problems, complaints of nausea and irritation in the throat, among residents from nearby areas. “Prolonged exposure to foul odour, methane and pollutants can become a serious public health risk,” he said. “A proper health survey must be conducted to study the prevalence of respiratory illnesses and other health impacts from living near the dump yard,” he said.

Dr Harish Panchal’s clinic in Vikhroli is a 10-minute drive from the yard. Children and the elderly in the area, he said, are more vulnerable to respiratory problems and skin allergies. “The situation has aggravated in the last four to five years – all due to the stench emanating from the landfill,” he said.

Protests and litigations

Complaints of foul odour began in 2012, soon after the dumping facility became operational. Having lived in the area his entire life, Sanjay Yelve, 52, a petitioner before the HC, said “This smell is something else altogether.”

As the odour intensified, residents turned to politicians, police and local authorities, but got little relief. Sporadic protests were held by citizens groups and political parties, including a demonstration by then Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) MLA Mangesh Sangle in October 2012 along with his supporters who had shaved their heads in protest.

More recently, when the UCLA findings were discussed before the court, the BMC maintained that the report was reviewed with its monitoring committee but experts resisted technical comment or its validation as the reference datasets or the method of the study were not available to them. However, the monitoring committee has directed that NEERI be engaged to carry out a detailed methane audit and suggest stench mitigation measures.

In a series of hearings the HC had strongly questioned the civic body over the pertinacious odour emanating from the landfill. On April 25, a day after pulling up the BMC on the issue, Justices G S Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe visited the site to assess the situation, following which the court said that the “basic grievance” of the petitioners living in the neighbourhood was the unbearable stench in the early morning hours and sought a report explaining the “scientific reasons” behind the emissions.

In response, the BMC submitted an affidavit by Avinash Kate, chief engineer (solid waste management), stating that manpower had been deployed at the facility between 1 am and 6 am to monitor waste intake and operations.

On May 7, the civic body stated what it believed were the likely causes of the odour. It told the court that waste segregation at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) takes place at night, and that a possible malfunction in four misting cannons — meant to suppress odour — may have allowed the stench to spread. It also pointed to windrow formation at the composting plant, a process in which biodegradable waste is piled into long rows.

According to the civic body, the MRF facility located barely 120 metres from residential areas in Kannamwar Nagar is likely the primary source of the smell because fresh waste is received and stored in the open while dry and wet waste are segregated. The BMC said the plant operator, Anthony Lara Enviro Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (ALESPL), had been instructed to spray deodorants on fresh waste. It also informed the court that the MRF facility would eventually be shifted farther away from residential areas, while the land near Kannamwar Nagar would be converted into a dense forest buffer zone.

The court had observed that the grievance of the residents near the dumping facility had “still not been satisfactorily resolved” and “further concrete steps” were required to control the emissions and odour generated at the dumping facility.

The court also pulled up the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), calling the body a “silent spectator to the entire problem” that had neither monitored pollution nor the odour around the facility. The MPCB’s counsel, however, told the court that it had been carrying out regular checks of the AQI levels in and around the facility.

For now, there are two petitioners before the court. The Kannamwar Co-operative Housing Society Association that first filed a PIL in 2016 and later a writ petition in 2018; and the other by the NGO Vanashakti in 2019. Both petitioners had questioned that environmental clearances be given to the mixed waste dumping project in Kanjurmarg before BMC started it in 2011. “The foul smell was an immediate concern but we ultimately want the dumping ground shut down and shifted elsewhere,” said Abhijeet Rane, the lawyer representing Kannamwar Nagar residents.

The PIL filed by Vanashakti stated that the 141.77 hectare Kanjurmarg plot was first identified as a potential dumping ground after the MPCB had ordered the closure of the Chincholi Bunder landfill site in Malad in 2001. In 2003, the Supreme Court (SC) had directed that only half of the Kanjurmarg plot be used as a dumping ground and the remaining be kept as a no-development zone. While passing this order, SC also underlined strict observation of pollution-related laws. An expert appraisal committee of the union ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEF) passed an environmental clearance in 2009 for the use of only 65.96 hectares as a dumping ground, the PIL stated. The plant began operations in 2011.

However, way before the stench overwhelmed the lives of residents of the area, Vanashakti ’s director Stalin Dayanand had flagged the matter before the National Environment Appellate Authority that recorded his submissions in its order of 2010. He had said that residents of villages in Kanjurmarg and Bhandup would suffer “on account of bad odour and traffic problem due to thousands of garbage trucks moving in the vicinity”.

“In 2009, when the first kilogram of waste was dumped in Kanjurmarg, I was already in court challenging it. It’s been 17 years but I haven’t been able to do anything about it,” said a dejected Dayanand.

On Tuesday, BMC Commissioner Ashiwini Bhide also paid a surprise visit to the dumping site in Kanjurmarg after which she directed civic officials to create a green buffer zone around the site and set up a dedicated night-time control room, among other measures.

Stink management

Srinivasan Chari, 58, deputy general manager (operations) of the Kanjurmarg dumping ground, denied that there was any “bad odour” emanating from the plant. He said that a proposal made by ALESPL to BMC to quell it by switching to waste-to-energy and compressed bio gas (CBG) plant, from the existing MRF and bio reactor landfill (BLF), was still pending. “The residual odour could also be brought down if we switch to the proposed system,” he said.

A senior official of the BMC’s solid waste management (SWM) department shared that the civic body was still mulling over the proposal, adding that ALESPL that was contractually bound to the civic body till 2036 has sought a 20-year extension of the contract. “Such an important decision could not be taken without elected representatives and the approval of the general body and the standing committee. Now that the elected representatives are appointed, it could move forward,” the official said.

Responding to concerns over methane generation flagged by a UCLA report, Chari said methane was “harmless to breathe” and “odourless”. He said, “We have invited them for discussions. We need to understand their findings and adopt mitigation measures adopted by them.”

Civic officials also claimed that over 80% of complaints about foul odour from citizens were “not genuine”. The remaining 20% of the complaints, they said, were due to other local issues and not the dumping facility. “When officials reach the spot and ask residents about the smell, they often say it was there five minutes ago but gone now,” said an official, adding that the occasional odour is unavoidable during the unloading of waste, particularly due to the wind.

“No matter how meticulously the trucks are unloaded, some amount of odour is inevitable, as the waste brought to the facility is already rotting. Typically, waste is dumped in bins around 11 am which is cleared only the next day when it is taken to the refuse transfer station where it sits to rot for another day or two, following which it is brought here,” the official said.

He added that to minimise the odour, bio-enzymes are sprayed soon after unloading. However, excessive use of chemicals or masking agents affect the natural generation of landfill gases processed for alternative fuel and fertilisers, he said.

Ganesh Khankar, leader of the house in BMC said, “The Kanjurmarg matter could not be discussed in detail earlier as the budget session was on. We will look into it now.” Sanjay Ghadi, deputy mayor, said: “Technological improvements should be implemented at the facility – it is not difficult. The administration must think about the issue seriously and resolve it.”

Kiran Dighavkar, deputy municipal commissioner, SWM, said, “The issue is significant and is being addressed under the guidance and directions of the high-level committee constituted by HC. We are working in compliance with the committee’s recommendations and working with best possible options.”

No quick-fix?

The landfill may not be the absolute villain, maintain environmental scientists, emphasising that foul odour can be contained with additional measures. A scientist, requesting anonymity, put emphasis on waste segregation and minimisation, adding, “Meteorological conditions, temperature and the wind are important parameters in determining the severity of the odour.”

Dr Rakesh Kumar, president of the Society for Indoor Environment, a non-profit organisation, said foul odour and methane generation are distinct problems that need to be dealt with separately. “Methane is generated when waste goes through anaerobic (absence of oxygen) activity. Methane generating bacteria become more active without the air. The absence of oxygen also generates hydrogen sulphide and other odorous compounds – they are linked but I wouldn’t say there is a 100% correlation. But to say one must control methane generation to reduce odour would be a complicated way of looking at the problem. You have to deal with the two separately,” said Kumar, who holds a PhD in environmental engineering, and has studied 40 landfills across India.

He said that the existence of a landfill does not automatically translate to a swirl of foul odour around it. “It does not happen in many other countries. You can smell it only when you go close to the landfill, like 10 meters, but not beyond. That is the purpose of technology,” he said.

To tackle the odour, he said, some measures must be taken before the waste reaches the landfill. “The odour is the strongest in the initial period of rotting. One needs to take care of it at the collection stage itself,” he said. Part of the waste in Mumbai goes to transfer stations in small vehicles before reaching the landfill in a bigger vehicle. “At this stage, we need to spray bioculture so that it doesn’t stink or at least the stink is suppressed. When it reaches the landfill, this must be repeated. I think there is a gap between these two, which leads to the odour,” said Kumar.

About methane, an odourless greenhouse gas, Kumar said, “Methane should ideally be captured because it is a valuable energy resource.” He emphasised that while odour is a problem, methane is not. “The generation of methane is not limited to landfills, it is also produced in the sewage flowing in open drains,” he said. He added complaints about foul odour had been made in the past by residents near other dump sites such as Gorai, Deonar and Mulund too. “The odour issue is not new but it needs urgent attention due to its health impacts,” Kumar said.

Scientists said that planting trees near the landfill may mitigate the stench to a great degree but not by itself. While more efforts would be required, halting waste collection or treatment at Kanjurmarg is not an option for the city.