Who will clean Amritsar? City-specific plans, accountability may help

Residents, environmentalists, activists, social workers and people associated with various NGOs not only criticise but often put pressure on the authorities to ensure effective solid waste management. The locals, organised under various banners, civil society organisations and social forums, stage demonstrations against the government and Municipal Corporation for non-lifting of garbage or other sanitation related issues from time to time.

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Some individuals and social activists often approach the MC Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner with their suggestions to make city-specific arrangements to manage the garbage. There are some social medial platforms where open discussions are being organised, with common people giving their feedback and suggestions. A team of MLA North Kunwar Vijay Pratap often responds to complaints and suggestions. Voice of Amritsar, a social media platform, makes on the ground efforts to address the complaints. However, most activists are not satisfied with the attitude of officials of the departments concerned and keep raising the issue.

Sharing his suggestion, Sheenu Arora, an active member of Voice of Amritsar, said, “An overhaul of the manual cleaning system is required where the Municipal Corporation staff sweep the road and keep piles of garbage on the roadside. The residents start dumping their domestic waste on that garbage heap and it becomes a huge dump soon. If the collection vehicles come as a matter of routine and pick up garbage on time, there will be no garbage heaps lying in the corners and streets. The Municipal Corporation has to install dustbins at some distance and ensure that they are emptied every day, only then will roads become clean. Secondly, the processing of garbage should start. If the

Issue raised in Assembly many times

I have raised the issue in Punjab Assembly several times. Had the government and MC paid attention, they would have been spared a fine of Rs 1,026 crore imposed by the NGT. I have spoken strongly four times in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha about sewage, water and garbage collection. I also gave a demand in writing to the Speaker to convene a special meeting of the Legislative Assembly to debate the issue. — Kunwar Vijay Pratap, MLA North

Pawan Sharma, a social activist, said, “The political class as well as the administration has completely failed to cope with the garbage issue. Even NH-1 passing alongside the posh Ranjit Avenue is facing garbage problems. A new dump has come up on Ranjit Avenue, which is not far from the residence of Member of Parliament Gurjit Singh Aujla. The MC imposes penalty on the solid waste management firm but no one dares to cancel its tender. No concrete action has been taken against the firm till date. The issue of tipping fee should be resolved and the firm should be made answerable for garbage processing and bio-remediation. The local politicians, including MP and MLA, should be answerable for the mess.

MLA North Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said, “I have raised the sanitation issue in Punjab Assembly several times. Had the government and MC paid attention to the issues raised by me in Vidhan Sabha, the Punjab government would have been spared a fine of Rs 1,026 crore imposed by the National Green Tribunal. I have spoken strongly four times in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha about sewage, water and garbage collection in June 2022, March 2023, November 2023 and March 2024. I had also recently given a demand in writing to the Speaker to convene a special meeting of the Legislative Assembly to debate the issue.”