Vehicle owner fined Rs 5,000 for dumping garbage on Beas banks in Kullu

The state Pollution Control Board (PCB) has taken cognizance of a video that has gone viral on social media showing two individuals, who were travelling in a vehicle, dumping garbage along the Beas in the Bandrol area of Kullu and taken action against the vehicle owner. Besides imposing a fine of Rs 5,000, the vehicle owner was also made to remove the garbage from the banks of the Beas.

Kullu PCB Regional Officer Sunil Sharma said that action was taken against the jeep owner for violating the provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. He emphasised that the PCB was committed to taking continuous action against those who pollute the environment and rivers.

The video, which surfaced on social media a couple of days ago, showed individuals throwing garbage on the banks of the river from a jeep through a link road, raising questions about the compliance of the HP High Court orders to block all link roads leading to rivers to prevent illegal mining. The PCB promptly got the garbage removed and penalised the jeep owner.

In a related incident earlier, a video had also gone viral showing large amounts of waste from the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in the Sarwari area of Kullu being dumped in the flooded Sarwari rivulet, a tributary of the Beas, using a JCB machine. The PCB had issued a notice to the Kullu Municipal Council (MC), which denied the allegations. However, the MC subsequently removed the leftover garbage from the Sarwari's banks using a JCB machine and labour.

Local residents expressed unhappiness with the Kullu MC's inefficient garbage management. Despite opposition from locals, the MC converted a beautiful park into a dumping yard, leading to the pollution of water bodies. The residents say the officials concerned should be made accountable, as mere fines have not been able to deter this practice. They called for criminal proceedings against such violators and the vehicles used in such activities to be impounded and released only after lengthy litigation.

Environment activist Abhishek Rai highlighted the issue of inadequate waste management in the district, which has led to regular dumping of garbage along water bodies. He said, “The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had fined the Manali MC Rs 4.6 crore in May last year for polluting the Beas with untreated waste from the Rangri waste management plant but the civic bodies in the district have not learned a lesson to prevent environmental pollution.”