Suhail Bhat
Pulwama, Dec 14: The main township of Pulwama district is reeling under the blanket of unwanted waste causing a nuisance to the residents as the district administration has failed to construct garbage dumping site despite land notified by the Government five years ago.
In 2011, the State Government had notified sprawling 100 kanals of land at South Kashmir’s Lethpora hamlet on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, falling under the jurisdiction of Pulwama district. It was suggested to dispose of waste on scientific terms which would not cause any harm to the environment. The site was identified for the waste of four Municipal Committees namely Pulwama Municipal Committee, Tral Municipal Committee, Pampore Municipal Committee and Khrew Municipal committee.
The site was identified to bring in environment-friendly waste management techniques but even after repeated pleas from the officials of the concerned Municipal Committees, the district administration has failed to take up the matter with the Government.
The locals said that due to lack of proper dumping site, roadside and stream banks are covered with litter piles which are causing a threat to the environment and at the same time may lead to diseases. Polythene and other wastes are being thrown into roadsides and health institutes, which is posing health threats, they said. “The Government should introduce a scientific mechanism to recycle the domestic waste to reduce the risk of any disease,” a Pulwama town resident said.
An official of Municipal Committee Pulwama said from last five years they have time and again written to the district administration about the issue but their pleas have had fallen on deaf ears. “The concerns of the people are genuine but we have no place to dump our waste. We are trying our best to keep the town clean but are helpless,” he said.
Presently, the Pulwama Municipal Corporation dumps waste in front of the office of Superintendent of Police, Pulwama which is close to the habitations. Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, Ghulam Mohammad Dar, when contacted claimed that they have shifted the present dumping site to Lethpora and were planning to build a community centre in its place.
“We are dumping the waste away from the town at Lethpora. The construction of the dumping site wherein the waste will be disposed of scientifically might take some more time. It’s a comprehensive plan and will solve all the problems of the waste management in our district but it will take some more time,” he said.
However, an official at Municipal Committee Pulwama refuted the claims of the Deputy Commissioner and maintained that the waste is being dumped near the SP office at Pulwama. “The land is away from the habitation and is the only free land available. We have no alternative but to dump it there,” he said.
He said with the growth of population and increased commercial and industrial activity, the problem of the waste disposal is becoming more intense but they were working round the clock to keep the lanes and bylanes of Pulwama clean. “Tons of garbage is produced daily in the entire Pulwama and our workers diligently work to collect the waste,” he added.
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