Dumping of construction waste material along hill slopes in Dharamsala goes on

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, June 19

Dumping of construction waste along the hill slopes in Smart City Dharamsala was continuing unabated. The road leading from Kotwali market area to Khaniara area has become a new spot where most of the construction waste generated in Dharamsala city was being dumped. Huge dumps of construction waste can be seen dumped in Pine forest area along the said road.

‘Will permanently damage ecology’

Environmentalists have expressed concern over dumping of construction waste along hill slopes. They alleged that dumping of construction waste along the hill slopes would permanently damage the ecology of the area and make hill slopes more prone to landslides during monsoons.

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Inquiries from locals in the area revealed that both private and government contractors working in Dharamsala were dumping construction waste along the hill slopes on the Kotwali-Khaniara road. The locals alleged that contractors dump the construction waste along hill slopes generally in the night so that there was little resistance from the locals or authorities.

At some places construction waste has been deliberately dumped to create extra space for parking in front of hotels.

Environmentalists have expressed concern over dumping of construction waste along hill slopes. They are alleging that dumping of construction waste along the hill slopes would permanently damage to ecology of the area and make hill slopes more prone of landslides during monsoons. The area in which construction waste was dumped become unfit for natural grow of trees and the loose waste lying on slopes was prone to landslides, they claim.

The contractors, who dump construction waste, while speaking on the condition of anonymity said that there was no place allocated by the corporation where they could dump the construction waste. “Since most of the construction activity, including construction of roads and buildings, create construction waste they have no option but for dumping it open spaces. If the government creates an agency for handling construction waste, we don’t mind paying it for handling the construction waste”, the contractors said.

Commissioner of Dharamsala MC Pradeep Thakur was not available for comments despite calls on his mobile phone.

Deputy Commissioner Nipun Jindal said action would be taken against the culprits who dump waste illegally in open spaces.

Sources said departments generally do not act against people dumping construction waste in open areas due to jurisdiction issues over forest, private and government lands. However, till authorities adopt a policy over dumping of solid waste and create infrastructure for the purpose illegal dumping along hill slopes is likely to continue.