 Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 15: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today held a meeting of Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UDD) to take stock of measures being taken up to build the capacity of Municipal Corporations including different ULBs of J&K in processing of solid and liquid waste on scientific lines.
Present in the meeting included Principal Secretary, Finance, Chairman, Pollution Control Committee (PCC), Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Commissioner, SMC/JMC, Director ULBs Jammu/Kashmir and other concerned officers. During the meeting, the Chief Secretary impressed upon the concerned to come up with comprehensive and component wise waste management plans for both the Municipal Corporations and other municipalities of J&K. He directed the Municipal Commissioners of SMC and JMC to formulate scientific plans for both the cities for treating the solid and liquid waste generated daily by the households. He enjoined upon them to keep the future projections in view in terms of both population and waste generation.
Dulloo further advised them to make simultaneous plans for treatment of legacy waste in order to clear the sites of this untreated garbage. He asked them to identify the feasible locations for establishment of Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) for solid waste, Compost Unit/Bio-CNG plants for liquid waste and dumping sites for inert waste.
He observed that management of waste is of utmost priority for both health and environmental concerns associated with it. He said that this task requires all seriousness and dedication on part of the Department to fully rid our cities and towns of the untreated waste and garbage.
He enjoined upon the J&K PCC to be proactive in enforcement of environmental protection laws in J&K. He sensitised them about their mandate and asked them to use their writ to act against the violators as per laws in force.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed the works being carried out by JMC, SMC and Directors of ULBs in both the divisions of Jammu and Kashmir.
Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Mandeep Kaur, presented an overview of different projects proposed and approved by GoI under SBM 2.0 for districts of the UT. She revealed that the facilities for both solid and liquid waste treatment are being created all over J&K in addition to inviting tenders for treatment of legacy waste on scientific lines.
Commissioner JMC, Devansh Yadav, threw light on the detailed works undertaken by the JMC, SMC and other local bodies in different parts of J&K. He elaborated that the waste is segregated for its treatment and the solid waste is being taken to MRF facility where as the liquid one to compost units for making good soil or Bio-CNG plants for fuel making.
It was further explained that different components of the waste are treated differently with some producing Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) being used by cement factories. It was added that only the inert waste without any use is sent to landfill sites for its final disposal.
Regarding the facilities created in various districts, it was divulged that MRF of the capacity of 40 TPD by JMC and 100 TPD by SMC is presently in operation for treating its waste. In addition, the ULBs of Jammu had installed the capacity of 79 TPD 17 locations and ULBs of Kashmir 18 TPD at 9 locations across Kashmir. |
