Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 13: The J&K Government today informed the Legislative Assembly that the Achan garbage dumping site cannot be shut down immediately, as no fully operational alternative facility exists to manage waste for a city the size of Srinagar.
Replying to MLA Shamim Firdous, the Housing and Urban Development Department said that while environmental and health concerns have arisen over decades of accumulated waste, abrupt closure is not feasible without a functional replacement system.
Established in 1986, the Achan site is Srinagar’s primary municipal landfill.
The Government acknowledged that long-term waste accumulation has caused environmental and health issues for local residents.
To address the problem, as per the Government, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has launched comprehensive interventions under the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016.
Measures include bio-mining and bio-remediation of legacy waste, operation of a leachate treatment plant, continuous environmental monitoring, odour control, and the creation of a green buffer zone.
As per the Government, the administration is following a policy of phased closure rather than abrupt relocation.
So far, it was informed, approximately 11 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste are being treated, old waste cells are being scientifically capped, and integrated waste processing infrastructure is being developed under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and CITIIS 2.0.
On the question of identifying an alternative location, the Government informed the House that no suitable land is presently available within the jurisdiction of Srinagar Municipal Corporation for establishing a new municipal solid waste disposal facility.
It added that the Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar has already taken up the matter with all Tehsildars of Srinagar district for identification of suitable state land for the purpose.
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