Nine police personnel were injured in stone-pelting by crowds, as anti-garbage dumping agitation launched by the people of Mitamita-Padegaon village located on the outskirts of Aurangabad city in Marathwada region took a violent turn on Wednesday.
The protesters, who have been opposing the dumping of garbage by the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) at a site located in the Mitamita-Padegaon village, set two trucks laden with garbage and damaged two vehicles belonging to the local police and Fire brigade.
Trouble broke out when the AMC trucks carrying garbage arrived at the dumping site, under police protection.
Apart from setting the garbage trucks on fire and damaging a couple of other vehicles, the protesting villagers hurled stones at the police personnel accompanying the garbage trucks. In all, nine police personnel–- including two inspectors -- were injured in the stone-pelting.
The police personnel resorted to lathi-charge and burst tear-gast shells to quell the rioting mobs. Aurangabad Police Commissioner Yashaswi Yadav confirmed having used tear gas shells, even while denying that the police had resorted to lathi-charge as was being claimed by the villagers.
Since February 16, the people in Naregaon-Mandki village located outskirts of Aurangabad have been agitating against the dumping of garbage in the vicinity of their village.
The AMC personnel have not been collecting garbage from households, resulting in the piling up of garbage in various parts of Aurangabad city.
With no alternative, the AMC personnel – under police protection-- took the garbage trucks to the dumping site located near the Mitamita-Padegaon village, leading to violent protests by the local people.
Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative Council Dhananjay Munde has demanded that the elected body of the AMC be dissolved if no steps were taken to resolve the garbage crisis in Aurangabad city.
Seeking chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ immediate intervention in the matter, Munde said in a statement issued here in the evening that he would raise the issue in the State legislative Council on Thursday.