Residents demand waste disposal mechanism in Lahaul-Spiti valley

Tribune News Service

Dipender Manta

Mandi, November 15

The residents of the Lahaul valley have demanded better mechanism for waste disposal in the district. The district currently lacks a garbage treatment plant.

The residents said after the opening of the Atal tunnel on the Manali-Leh highway in October 2020, the tourist influx in the valley had increased considerably. As there is lack of garbage disposal facility, they fear that this would cause littering in the valley.

Need to save area from becoming garbage dump

The Lahaul valley has emerged as a tourist hub after the opening of the Atal tunnel. Since its opening, tourism units have been mushrooming in the district. There is an urgent need to ensure a proper garbage disposal system at the village-level to save this eco-fragile area of the Himalayan region from becoming a garbage dump. The people of the valley are currently managing waste disposal at their own level. —Sudershan Jaspa, Ex zila parishad member

Rigzin Samphel Heyreppa, president of the Homestay Owners Union in Lahaul and Spiti, said, “There is an urgent need to set up a garbage disposal plant in the valley. We raised this issue with the administration and urged the authorities concerned to do the needful,” he added.

Sudershan Jaspa, former member of the Zila Parishad, said, “The Lahaul valley has emerged as a tourist hub after the opening of the Atal tunnel. Since its opening, tourism units have been mushrooming in the district. There is an urgent need to save this eco-fragile area of the Himalayan region from becoming a waste dump. The people of the valley are currently managing waste disposal on their own.”

Tashi Barongpa, a hotelier from the valley, said though the administration is collecting waste material from tourism units and dhaba owners in Keylong and its nearby places, the situation regarding garbage disposal is grim in the villages.

Lahaul and Spiti Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar said, “The setting up of a garbage disposal system in the district is in progress. The administration has developed an MRF (material recovery facility) site at Koksar, where the waste material from the valley would be dumped in the coming days. Currently, the waste material is being transported to Manali for disposal. Another MRF site is being developed at Billing village in the district for garbage collection. Apart from this, the administration is planning to develop two MRF sites at Jispa and Udaipur, which will cover the entire Lahaul valley.”

The DC added that efforts would be made to soon set up a garbage disposal plant for solid and liquid waste in the district.

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