Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Mar 2: The bus stand in South Kashmir’s Shopian district is littered with piles of unattended garbage these days as local Municipal Committee has converted it into a makeshift yard to dump garbage cleared from nearby localities.
The locals alleged that the failure of Government to make the bus stand fully functional is encouraging Municipality and other people to dump their waste freely. “The bus stand is partially functional as majority of the public transport operate from the road sides which has rendered the bus stand useless and vulnerable to garbage dumping,” said Kaiser Habib, a shopkeeper.
He further said that the failure of the Municipality to lift the garbage has shrouded the whole area in a foul stink and has put the health of people at risk. “Who will visit a place which is engulfed in a foul smell? SMC has really turned this bus stand into a cesspool,” he added.
The locals said the garbage attracts stray dogs and birds that can be seen scavenging for food in the rubbish, thereby posing threat to the passersby. “The stray animals which can be seen roaming around these places consume plastic and other harmful substances from these places which cause serious injuries to their intestines and stomach,” they said.
Chief Executive Officer, Shopian Municipal Committee told Excelsior that the garbage came with the snow, which they lifted, from the shop front and dumped there. “We have no place to dump the snow which we cleared from the shop fronts. The garbage might have come with the snow and since the snow has melted the garbage, it carried with it has left over. I will immediately send a team of my workers to lift the rubbish,” he added.
He also said that the Municipality is not dumping any waste in the bus stand as they have a dumping site at Arihama.
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