MC buries garbage in Gurdaspur Sports Complex, DC orders probe

Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Aditya Uppal has ordered an inquiry into the Municipal Committee’s (MC) “high-handedness” after it buried tonnes of garbage within the premises of the District Sports Office (DSO) late at night by digging a large pit.

The sports fraternity was left stunned by the MC’s decision to dump waste in an area where national and international sportspersons train. Residents, too, were shocked at the turn of events.

The complex houses a gymnasium, swimming pool, basketball and volleyball courts, and a badminton hall, besides accommodating the office of the DSO. The MC reportedly chose nighttime to carry out the controversial exercise because its officials knew there would have been chaos had the dumping taken place during the day.

MC officials claimed they selected the sports complex due to an “acute shortage of space in the city.” The move was allegedly green-lit by a serving bureaucrat.

Calling it a “slap in the face of innocent sportsmen,” a senior officer said, “While CM Bhagwant Mann and his ministers are on a stadium-inauguration spree, the MC chose to desecrate the temple of sport. The DC should immediately hold the officer who ordered this accountable.”

“Gurdaspur is such a big city, yet the civic body thought it prudent to choose a sports facility to bury filth,” said Amarjit Shastri, a judo coach. As news spread, scores of sportspersons gathered at the site.

“A JCB machine was brought in to dig a 10-foot-deep pit, after which the city’s refuse was dumped and covered with soil,” said a gymnast.

The MC has faced criticism earlier for dumping waste at inappropriate locations in the town. Just days ago, piles of trash were strewn near Jahaz Chowk, one of the busiest areas in the city. “Our sales dropped by 50–70 per cent because of the garbage,” said a prominent meat shop owner.

Last year, during the monsoon, the MC similarly littered the road leading to the Gurdaspur-Pathankot NH, near the PAU regional centre and the BSNL office, posing a serious health risk to residents.