For months now, residents of Phursungi and nearby areas like Bhosale Wasti, Papade Wasti, Dhamalwadi, and Ganganagar have been battling unbearable conditions caused by the overflow of foul-smelling, polluted water from the Phursungi-Uruli Devachi garbage depot. The situation worsens every monsoon, as heaps of unprocessed waste mix with rainwater, creating pools of toxic sludge that flow onto roads and through residential lanes. Locals are facing a rise in waterborne and mosquito-borne diseases, yet repeated complaints to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have gone unanswered. The smell is constant, the water is contaminated, and many residents especially children are falling sick.
The Phursungi depot has been a long-standing environmental hazard, with nearly 5.3 million metric tons of legacy waste accumulated over the years. Though PMC has cleared a portion of it in two phases, over 3 million metric tons still remain. Activists and social workers are demanding immediate action to clean up the mess and improve drainage. PMC has now begun inspecting the affected areas and promised sanitation and cleanup efforts, while NEERI has been brought in to monitor the bio-mining work. But for those living in these affected localities, real relief still feels far away.