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| On environment day, spare some tears for Suryaputri Tawi | | |
MUNISH GUPTA
Jammu, June 4: As the schools, colleges and government authorities in and around the city once again gear up to celebrate another World Environment Day, the City of Temples is fast depleting its environment but tragically without any realization of the extent of damage it is making to each and every resident of the city who is dependent on the mother nature for air, water and land.
River Tawi – mythlogically also known as Suryaputri – has been polluted to the extent that it has become a drain with stinking filth floating on it. Sleeping over the matter, the state government has not initiated any steps and as a result, the ‘lifeline’ of the winter capital faces an extinction threat.
According to a Jammu and Kashmir State Pollution Control Board (JKSPCB) official around 23 channels of waste discharge continue to flow directly or indirectly into the Tawi from Kishenpur Manwal right up to Makwal. “The river has been polluted and it can be saved only if a cleansing drive is undertaken on a large-scale besides, imposing strict restrictions on the people from polluting it,” he said. “The content of dissolved oxygen in one litre of water should be 6 mg but water in the Tawi from PHE lifting point at Bagh-e-Bahu up to Bhagwati Nagar has 1.3 to 1.4 mg dissolved oxygen per litre.” He further added.
Apart from the Tawi, waters of the Chenab in Akhnoor, Basantar in Samba, Ujh in Kathua, Devika in Udhampur have also been found polluted by the JKSPCB
Under Monitoring of the Indian National Aquatic Resources (MINAR) programme, the JKSPCB submits reports of rivers, lakes and other water bodies to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Though the
JKSPCB had established two monitoring stations, one in the Tawi beneath the main bridge and another beneath Akhnoor Bridge in the Chenab River but surprisingly they had been closed in 1997 and the practice of sending quarterly report was resumed from May 2004. But the most unfortunate part is that despite the knowledge of the authorities the discharge of waste into the river continues. The condition is worst when it comes to the lifeline of Jammu for drinking water, the Ranbir Canal. The main canal is 60 km in length while its distribution system spans over 400 km. It has a gross command area of 1.67 lakh acre and cultivable command area of 95,400 acres and caters to irrigation needs of the large number of farmers in the Jammu region, now stands testimony to the official apathy and rampant pollution.
A JMC official on the conditions of anonymity revealed, “Despite repeated reminders waste discharge, including bio-medical waste from hospitals is still dumped into the river. The waste discharge from the
Regional Research Laboratory also flows into the river,” he said. It is a matter of shock that one of the most reputed research laboratories of the state are so irresponsibly dumping the laboratory waste into the Ranbir canal. It is a usual practice that in late hour a pump installed on the bank of Ranbir Canal pumps the waste of the Laboratory into the canal and during the winter season the act is clearly visible due to the absence of water in the canal. During winters the canal near the laboratory even stinks due to this dumped waste.
Further every year before releasing the water in the canal, which is an offshoot of Chenab River, the state government takes an uphill task to de-silt it and remove pollutants from the bed of the canal. However, this time the contractors, who have been assigned to de-silt the canal, have been dumping mud and garbage in the bank of the canal. Residents who live near the canal rue that the government seems to be noncommittal in cleaning the canal to restore its past pristine glory. People in the far off villages use this water for drinking purpose, washing clothes and utensils. However, the canal is so much polluted that an epidemic can break anytime.
The modernisation work of the Ranbir Canal was initiated in 1981-82 at an estimated cost of Rs 84.40 crore, and since then an amount of Rs 117 crore has been spent, but still the canal is no better than dirty
nallah. Every year lakhs of tonnes of garbage is dumped inside the canal and the government spends crores of rupees to de-silt the canal, but the contractors, who employ labourers, to do the job dump the garbage in the canal bank.
It may be mentioned that the Jammu city has no solid waste management plant. Though the JMC had acquired some land near Kot Bhalwal on the outskirts of the city to come up with a solid waste management plant but the project remains a distant dream.
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