Untreated waste polluting Beas, its tributaries
High court directive
— Himachal High Court in 2012 had directed that municipal authorities should make adequate arrangements for proper disposal of garbage.
— The high court had also directed municipal councils of Kullu and Manali and the nagar panchayat of Bhuntar to levy heavy penalty on the offenders found dumping municipal waste in public areas or polluting the environment.
Abhinav Vashisht
Kullu, March 26
Himalayan Environment Conservation Organisation (HECO), a local NGO, has highlighted the issue of garbage being littered along the banks of the Beas. On the occasion of World Water Day, the NGO alleged that the Beas and its tributaries were being polluted as the authorities concerned had adopted a lackadaisical approach towards the issue.
Abhishek, president of the NGO, alleged that despite strict guidelines by the NGT and the Green Bench of the Himachal High Court, untreated municipal solid waste (MSW) and sewage was being dumped directly into the Beas and its tributaries.
He said that waste from the municipal drains of Kullu and Bhuntar towns was being dumped into the Beas and its tributaries. He said Himachal High Court in 2012 had directed that municipal authorities should make adequate arrangements for proper disposal of garbage. The high court had directed municipal councils of Kullu and Manali and the nagar panchayat of Bhuntar to levy heavy penalty on the offenders found dumping municipal waste in public areas or polluting the environment.
Abhishek alleged that while the door-to-door garbage collection scheme was implemented in the town areas of the district, but the drains remained clogged in many places. He further alleged that waste material from municipal drains at Akhara Bazar, Sarwari and Lanka Baker region of the Kullu town was being dumped in the water body without treatment.
He lamented that the authorities concerned were not putting in sincere efforts to protect the Beas from pollution. He said that he had raised the issue with Kullu DC, Principal Secretary Urban Development and the Chief Minister many times but no strict measures were taken to implement the court orders and to protect the Beas. He added that no challan had been issued in the past three years for dumping garbage on the banks of Beas and its tributaries.
He added that many contractors of the National Highways Authority of India had dumped muck directly into the Beas. He said that the government should be directed to take effective steps to conserve the Beas and a report should be sought regarding compliance of the previous orders. If the current trend is not curtailed then it will have an adverse impact on the ecology of the entire valley.
Abhinav Vashisht, Kullu.
Photo Caption: Garbage littered along the tributary of Beas at Sarwari area of Kullu town.
Photo Caption: Muck from highway construction dumped in Beas on Bhuntar-Kullu bypass road.
