‘River of plastic’ video is of Ashwani khud, confirm experts

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 19

A seven-member team of scientists, constituted by the State Pollution and Environment Protection Board, has confirmed that a 1.2-minute video on a “river of plastic” that has gone viral on the social made is that of the Ashwani khud, near Seri, in Solan town. It is the main water source for Shimla.

The clip was made by local resident Abhay Sharma on July 2. Abhay said he was near the khud that day when it started raining heavily around 4.30 pm. Within a few minutes, the Ashwani khud turned into a “river of plastic”, he added.

The scientists are now ascertaining whether truck loads of plastic and garbage were dumped into the Ashwani khud or plastic came flowing from Sadhupul and Junga side from Shimla. The video clip has also caught the attention of High Court judges and bureaucrats and evoked their sharp reaction.

“It is shameful on part of the citizens of the country. What future we are promising to our coming generations?” asked Brig Daleep S Chhajta, a social activist.

Local villagers and Abhay have also confirmed and verified that the video clip is that of the Ashwani khud and was made near Neri, the point where drainage from Shimla and Solan merge.

The team of the scientists also inspected the riverbanks of the Ashwani khud from Junga and Sadhupul to Neri on Thursday and recorded the statements of eyewitnesses.

“The team, however, did not find plastic and garbage littered along the banks from Junga to Neri,” said Dr Surender Shandil, a senior environmental engineer, who led the team.

Local villagers confirmed the presence of plastic and garbage in the khud and said the IPH lifted water for Shimla and Neri from here.

The team will also probe if trucks belonging to the Solan Municipal Council allegedly dumped garbage near Seri.

However, the MC claimed that it disposed of 70 to 80 tonne of waste at the Bharyal plant on the western periphery of the city. There were little chances that the SMC trucks were involved in the dumping of garbage in Ashwani khad drains.

Sources said there was no garbage collection system in the merged wards of Shanan, Maliana, Housing colony, Bhatta Kuffar, lower Mehli, Junga town, Pujarli and Badagaon. As a result, the garbage has been finding way to drains that flow into the Ashwani khud basin.

Member-secretary of the board RK Purthi said the team would submit its report in a few days and action would be taken accordingly. He has sought the details of garbage collection and dumping from both the SMC and the Solan Municipal Council.