Garbage raises stink in Chandigarh

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 13

The City Beautiful has turned a garbage dump after the JP Associate plant failed to accept entire garbage of the city on the second consecutive day today.

While the plant management returned more than 200 tonnes of garbage, opposition from the residents of Dadu Majra has complicated the situation more as they did not allow the plant to throw garbage at the dumping ground. This has created unprecedented crisis in the city as heaps of the garbage accumulated all over the city.

The garbage has piled up at all sahaj safai kendras (SSK).

Congress Councillor Devinder Singh Babla said it had become difficult for residents to pass near the sahaj safai kendras. The situation had reached an alarming level and poses serious health hazard to residents.

Devinder Singh Babla said he would raise the issue in the next House meeting as it was the failure of the Municipal Corporation to tackle the problem.

Sources said the plant received only around 200 tonnes of garbage and returned several trucks full of garbage citing reasons that the vehicles were loaded with wet garbage. The MC generates approximately 350 to 400 tonnes of garbage daily.

The situation worsened at the Fruit and Vegetable Market in Sector 26 where garbage piled up after its trucks were returned by the plant.

Residents of the Police Lines said they would soon meet the higher authorities.

Jujhar Singh, chairman of the Market Committee, said: “They had contacted the plant at Lalru to send the garbage there. We will start sending the garbage to the plant at Lalru once the talks materialised”.

Mayor Asha Jaswal said the MC is considering various options and would soon find a solution to the problem. The management should respect its commitment.

Officials of the plant said only wet garbage was returned that could not be used here. The JP agreed to install another compost plant with the capacity of 300 metric tonnes to process the garbage during the hearing of the case in Delhi.