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| Waterborne diseases on rise in Udhampur, elsewhere | | Open dumping of Solid Waste across state | | Early Times Report
udhampur, Feb 24: Open dumping of solid waste across the state has resulted in alarming increase in waterborne diseases especially in Udhampur where the sources of drinking water has been turned into a dumping site.
As Municipal Council Udhampur continues to dump solid waste in the open along the banks of Tawi on Jammu- Srinagar National Highway , sources in Health Department have revealed that patients suffering from intestinal and other similar diseases is on rise due to intake of polluted water which is supplied by PHE.
Details available with Early Times reveal that Tawi River flowing through Udhampur has been contaminated with municipal solid waste that is dumped in the forest area in Udhampur outskirts. Sources in Health Department said that during rainy season the water gushing from the mountains takes solid waste into Tawi and same water is lifted by PHE and supplied to local population. " The filtration plant of PHE cannot clean the water mixed with municipal solid waste as there are many harmful chemicals in the municipal waste , so it is the duty of district administration to make sure that most of the waste is treated instead of being dumped in such a huge quantity " said a senior official from PHE (name withheld)
"Municipal Council Udhampur have made river Tawi their new dumping site. Ironically the site which has been preferred by the Municipal authorities as garbage dumping site is in close vicinity of the river Tawi whose water is used for the domestic purposes by the residents of the area. The Municipal Council has been continuously dumping garbage near the river side in forest area and thus risking thousands of lives " said a local resident Rakesh Khajuria
Pertinent to mention that a report submitted before National Green Tribunal (NGT) few years back had revealed some astonishing facts about Jammu & Kashmir vis a vis dumping of solid waste in the state. The report says that J&K has 100 % open dumping of Municipal Solid Waste which includes its Urban Local Bodies as well (ULB).
Due to absence of scientific waste management techniques the Municipal Solid Waste is dumped in open across cities of Srinagar and Jammu along with other towns which are controlled by the Directorates of Urban Local Bodies in Srinagar and Jammu. The report was submitted by Government of India in 2015 before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which is an apex enviro- legal body looking after litigations related to environmental pollution. The report has ranked J&K state at 31stplace vis a vis management of municipal solid waste across country. Goa , Kerala and Tamilnadu are the best three states which have proper scientific mechanism in place vis a via Management of Solid Waste.
As per the report J&K neither has any facility of door to door collection of municipal solid waste , segregation nor is composting of organic waste material done in any city or town of the state. As already reported in Bhejbhera town the municipal solid waste , garbage , dead animals are being dumped by the local Municipal Committee (MC) Bhejbehera on the banks of "Daed Kull" which is a beautiful nallah flowing through Bhejbehara - Pahalgam road. Heaps of garbage are dumped near this place by authorities who claim to be the saviors of the community . Municipality in Chadoora town of central Kashmir are seen involved in dumping all the garbage into the Doodh-Ganga nallah which flows through this town. Irony is that same water is supplied by Public Health Engineering (PHE) department to thousands of people in Budgam as well as Srinagar districts. In Bandipora town the garbage and municipal waste is dumped in Wullar lake by local Municipal Committee. Few years back the Municipal Committee (MC) Bandipora received a grant of around 82 lakhs from Wullar Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA) for strengthening and developing the infrastructure for scientific disposal of municipal solid waste so as to prevent any sort of pollution within and along the banks of Wular Lake. "Inspite of getting get a huge grant the Muncipal Committee (MC) Bandipora continues to dump all the garbage in the local water bodies and the irony is that this dumping mostly takes place in famous Wullar lake" said a local resident Mushtaq Ahmad.
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