No check on burning of waste in Jalandhar

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, July 7

Heaps of garbage lying around in the city is something we all have seen every now and then. Dealing with these mounds of useless things in a better and efficient way still seems far-fetched. Taking in account the lack of innovative methods, the practice of burning garbage in the open, despite being banned, has continued.

Setting ablaze the waste is fairly a normal sight to witness. One can see residents, shopkeepers and even workers of the Municipal Corporation (MC) reducing it to ashes on vacant plots or on roadsides and in residential areas too. With no proper system in place, the local civic body has miserably failed to check the practice which is irking residents. Needless to say, the burning causes pollution which in turn is enviromentally unfriendly but also can prove to be detrimental to those having respiratory issues.

Talking to The Tribune, a resident of Urban Estate Phase II, Sukhjit Singh, said, “A few days ago my son, who’s asthmatic, was playing outside the residence and suddenly felt a heavy chest congestion and started coughing while his eyes also turned watery and red in couple of minutes. When I went outside to check, I found some unknown people burning heaps of plastic pipes in corporation yard here.”

He said the black smoke emanating from that place was visible as far as from one kilometer and he even clicked pictures, made video of this and brought to the MC officers’ notice. “But all in vain”, said Singh, adding that, “there is no check on the practice and even the officials concerned seemed helpless.”

Harpreet Singh, a resident, said, around a week before he found few private bank employees burning trash openly in a plot near Choti Baradari. He said that when educated class can indulge in such practices then what should one expect from those uneducated and class IV employees of the MC. “We are all responsible for this.The responsibility of protecting the environment lies with everyone. The government registers FIRs against farmers for burning crop residue, while burning of waste is being ignored. It is high time that a strict action be taken against all these pollution-causing agents and no one should be spared”, he added.

A shopkeeper near the railway station, said, “On a daily basis garbage was set on fire during night near the road entering the station from the flyover side. The same is being done on the Chuggiti road too as huge stocks of trash are lying unattended there, so the slum dwellers who reside nearby often burn the garbage to get rid of it.”

Meanwhile, when contacted, Dr Raj Kamal, incharge sanitation, said, “We are keeping a regular vigil in the city to check the problem. People are being fined too and even employees had been warned against such violations and action would be taken against those who would unnecessarily indulge in the practice.”