Garbage set afire, Jalandhar residents gasping for breath

While stubble burning dominates headlines in winters, another silent but dangerous practice that worsens Jalandhar’s air quality is the burning of garbage piles across the city. Toxic waste, dried leaves, and dead wood are routinely set ablaze in the name of cleanliness, contributing significantly to the city's already alarming AQI levels. Ironically, these organic materials could enrich the soil if used as mulch, but ignorance and administrative apathy have turned them into pollutants.

At the heart of the crisis lies the Wariana Dump site — a towering mountain of waste contaminating the region for over 30 years. Spanning 16 acres and estimated to hold over 30 metric tonnes of garbage (though MC claims it’s 15 to 16 lakh metric tonnes), the dump is a stark symbol of failed waste management. The core issue is lack of segregation. A significant portion of the city’s waste is organic — bio-waste, vegetable scraps, and garden residue — which, if composted, could reduce the city’s garbage load by half.

While the Mayor has said 60,000 metric tonne of the city’s waste has already been processed under the bio-mining project started in May this year, the fact remains that most of the bio-waste in Jalandhar continues to be mixed with other plastic, industrial or toxic wastes – causing a complete loss of a precious resource.

While the MC had started segregation of wastes – with strong directions to people to separate wet wastes from dry – some years ago, the project could not even sustain for a few months. To add to it, an increasing number of people ignorantly set afire garbage piles, even burning plastic, which aggravates air pollution further in winter months. Large-scale composting is sadly a non-starter in the region.

Councillor Balraj Thakur says, “The garbage problem in Jalandhar can only be resolved if the garbage goes straight to the dump site. It is a long-term need for separate dump sites – at least 20 to 25 – only for green wastes. No residents will even object or protest to these, as green wastes will not cause any contamination. Leaves, woods, garden and bio-residue is getting dumped with other garbage at Wariana Dump site. This is a huge waste. ”

He also pointed out that a baling plant at Burlton Park, once used for processing wood waste, has shut down

Activist Tejasvi Minhas, who has recently written to the NGT, seeking remedial action on the pollution caused due to the Wariana dump said, "Waste should be considered a resource, and not garbage. Compost today sells for a hefty price. Jalandhar has vast resources available to generate tonnes of compost which it could be a big revenue for the MC. Every single strip of green waste and even paper and plastic wastes can be recycled with ingenuity and will. But officials sadly lack it. The NGT had recently ordered MC to share a time-bound action plan for complete compliance of the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 which hasn't been submitted. The current garbage situation of a direct result of unabated corruption, official apathy and zero oversight."