NAVI MUMBAI: With rising instances of illegal debris dumping coming to the fore almost on a daily basis, NMMC has formed as many as four anti-debris squads The four squads, which started operating on Monday, will carry out surveillance in all eight wards.Each team will provide 24-hour surveillance in two civic wards in three shifts. The vehicles provided will have a security guard, driver, an officer and his assistant for 8-hour surveillance duty. They will be targeting chronic spots where construction and other waste material are being dumped illegally.“Earlier, we had planned to deploy one team in each ward but later realised that there’s no need for ward-wise squads. We reviewed the strategy and formed four squads. This number will be enough to deal with the debris mafia. Meanwhile, construction firms have been instructed to dump debris at designated sites at the Turbhe landfill ,” NMMC commissioner Ramaswami N said.The squads will be guarding the entire NMMC area spanning over 162 sq km from Belapur to Digha.“We have inducted 44 people, including 16 security guards, 12 drivers and 16 officers. The officers have been retained from the cess department. The department will have 48 persons and the remaining will be deployed soon,” said deputy municipal commissioner Dadasaheb Chabukswar. The head of the squad has been given the power to file cases against violators, impose penalty and seize vehicles engaged in illegal dumping of debris.“Let’s see the efficiency of the squads as NMMC’s earlier plans have failed as officials are in hand in gloves with politicians, developers and debris mafia,” said activist Rajeev Mishra.

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