Police book 4 for illegal dumping on Pavana riverbank

The Pimpri-Chinchwad police booked four people for dumping construction debris on the bank of the Pavana river. All four accused are the owners of the land located near the river and they were reportedly found dumping the debris and material without any consent from the civic body, said, the officials.
On Friday, Amol Ganpat Gorkhe, sanitary inspector of the environment engineering department of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), filed a complaint at Wakad Police Station against the accused. As per the complainant the four landowners had reportedly dumped the debris and construction waste material on the bank of the river in the Rahatni area between March 23 and 27, 2024.
Earlier this month the PCMC had confiscated twelve vehicles and collected a fine of ₹ 2.61 lakhs from offenders found illegally dumping debris on the riverbank of Mula near Pimple Nilakh and Wakad area. The environment department of PCMC during which had started to take stern action like filing police complaints if similar incidents are reported in future, the officials said.
Balaji Mane, Police Sub Inspector (PSI), attached to Wakad Police Station, said all four accused, including a woman, have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 271, 277 and 188 along with sections 3 and 15 of The Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
“They were allegedly found dumping debris on the land located along the Pavana river. Dumping of waste or debris on riverbeds is prohibited as per rule. This area is identified as a flood line and it may cause a flood due to obstruction to the water flow,” he said.
As per the cops, the accused have been identified as Sambhaji Nivritti Nadhe, Tukaram Damodar Nadhe, Ganesh Dnyaneshwar Nadhe and an unnamed woman, all residents of Kalewadi.
Gorkhe said the complaint was filed after verifying the facts based on the complaint received by PCMC from the citizens.
“Earlier this month we confiscated a few vehicles and penalised offenders found illegally dumping waste in this area. “However, despite the action people were still found involved in the illegal activity and the case was filed. Similar action to file cases against the miscreant found dumping the debris will continue,” he said.