India, March 18 -- In Vasai west, this is what pushback looks like - 9,000 residents of the idyllic Gaas village uniting to let the municipality know they won't allow a dumping ground and sewage treatment plant (STP) to be slipped under their noses and forced into their midst. The protest lasted just two days but it drew results. The Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) has withdrawn its application to shift a reservation for the dumping ground and STP from Agarwal Nagar in Vasai east to a 1,500-acre plot in Gaas.

The VVCMC, and before them the Palghar collector, has been eyeing the Gaas plot for a dumping ground and STP for 18 years. So, batting the proposal is not new to the 5,500-odd residents of this predominantly Christian...