Roadsides and common areas are strewn with garbage, marring the natural beauty of Kashmir. For the residents of Chontwaliwar, Lar, Manigam Repora and other villages in Ganderbal, the government’s waste management plan is proving to be a health and environmental problem.
The villagers face an urgent pollution crisis as segregation sheds meant for waste management have turned into hazardous dumpsites, threatening public health and the environment. The villagers are concerned about this due to the sheds’ proximity to water bodies.
The Department of Rural Development started the waste segregation project to prevent the environmental pollution crises unfolding in rural areas. But people are facing a problem due to this waste management project. People are completely against this work due to incomplete segregation sheds, and the waste is dumped outside the sheds and near water bodies.
Most water bodies are affected. Waste is often dumped near banks of nallahs that serve as villagers’ main source of drinking water. The waste problem affects the tourism and beauty of the serene villages also.
Local residents complain of dog attacks near the segregation shed. As people use that way to go to the fields and children use that way to go school, dog attacks has become a problem.
Social activist, Chowdary Hussain Rajpoot notes, “I don’t know if this is good work for people’s welfare or a threat to the life of common people. School-going students are affected, patients are facing problems. The block development office should remove this thing as soon as possible. Otherwise this will cause problems for innocent people.”
Block Development Officer Amarjit Singh also lays the onus of waste management on people. He says, “I understand the problems of people, but we are working on it to cover and equip these segregation sheds with proper mechanisms. In future, we will take care of all these things. But people are equally responsible because they are not cooperating with us and not using dustbins properly. I am requesting people to cooperate and support our mission.”
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