Land identified for garbage dump near Kasol

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Kullu, February 11

The Rural Development Department has identified two bigha land near Kasol in the Parbati valley for garbage disposal. Initially, a shredder will be installed there and later the plant will be upgraded for scientific treatment of municipal waste.

The dumping site is proposed to be set up in an uninhabited area and the department has sent the proposal in this regard for further approval. After getting approval from the Forest Department, the work to set up the dumping site will begin.

The step is aimed at solving the problem of littering in the Manikaran area, besides conserving the Parbati river, as the municipal waste was being dumped on the river banks, which finally polluted the river.

At present, there is no dumping site in the Parbati valley. There is one dumping site in the district at Rangri (Manali). The Manali MC had sent letters to the Kullu MC and Bhuntar and Banjar Nagar panchayats asking them not to send garbage to Manali after December 1, citing the accumulation of garbage at the plant. However, following intervention by the district administration, the garbage is still being sent to Manali.

With the Kasol garbage plant getting functional, the problem of garbage disposal on the banks of the Parbati and its tributaries will be solved. More than 10 panchayats of the valley will benefit from this move.

Residents Paras Ram and Akhil expressed hope that the move would make the valley look cleaner.

The tourists coming to the Parbati valley would also have a good experience, they said. The residents urged the administration to make the dumping site functional as soon as possible.

District Rural Development Authority’s project officer Jaiwanti Thakur said the land had been identified for the dumping site near Kasol and the matter forwarded to the directorate for approval.

The Kullu Municipal Council (MC) was planning to set up its own composter and shredder plants at the material recovery facility (MRF) at Nehru Park in the Sarwari area of Kullu town for which the approval had been received.

The administration has earmarked land for the dumping sites at Dalash of Anni subdivision, Jagatkhana and Parvan of Nirmand, Dighat and Sucheni of Banjar.