Mir Farhat
SRINAGAR, Oct 7: The Government today blamed land mafia for provoking people to protest against the Achan dumping site in outskirts of Srinagar in Syedapora “as no bad odour is emanating from it.”
Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister for Urban Development said in the Legislative Council that a land mafia of influential people and politicians has bought the land at peanuts around the Achan sewage dumping site which was provoking people to take to streets citing bad odour was emanating from it.
“There is no bad odour emanating from the Achan dumping site as recently a group of journalists was taken on a visit by Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). They had Kehwa at the site and didn’t smell any stench,” Jora said while replying to supplementary questions.
But, Jora didn’t mention that SMC’s officials were received with protests and slogans by the people living near the dumping site, and one SMC employee was injured when the agitated residents threw stones on them for the Government’s failure to address their problems due to the sewage waste disposal.
Jora said that Municipal Corporations and Urban Local Bodies are following guidelines to collect, transport and process solid waste.
The Minister also said that in order to control the bad smell from the dumping site, spread on 517 kanals of land, 8.60 metric tonnes of Sain-treat ( an anti-odour chemical) has been sprayed on the garbage, besides ERA has already installed the leachate treatment plant at the site, which is functional and two more similar plants are being commissioned.
Jora said that in Jammu, Jammu Municipal Corporation is presently dumping garbage at Bhagwati Nagar dumping site on UEED land.
He said that in other towns across the State, ULB are disposing the garbage on daily basis in isolated places away from residential areas.
For scientific disposal of the solid waste, he said, various Solid Waste Management Projects are under way in Jammu and Kashmir divisions.
“Seven projects have been taken up in for the towns of Doda, Bhaderwah, Akhnoor, Poonch, Sunderbani, Samba, and Kathua, out of which three projects in Doda, Bhaderwah and Sunderbani have been completed in Jammu division,” Jora said.
The Minister admitted there is delay in taking up rest of the projects as suitable land is not available to dump the waste, adding land has been purchased at Bhalwal and Samba for dumping solid waste.
Jora said the Government has directed those district administrators where there are no solid waste disposal systems to identify suitable land.
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