Now, Jalandhar Heights residents up in arms against garbage dump

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, November 16

There seems to be no solution in sight to the garbage dumping issue in the city. On the one hand, the Municipal Corporation is struggling to find space where garbage collected from different residential localities could be dumped; on the other, residents continue to oppose setting up of dumping of waste close or near to their localities.

Earlier, it was the residents of Model Town and Urban Estate Phase II, who opposed the dumping of garbage near the cremation ground and a vacant plot, respectively, now its Jalandhar Heights I residents, who have opened a banner of revolt against MC over dumping of solid waste at STP, Pholriwal.

It poses serious health issues

We won’t let the MC set up a dumping ground here as it will pose serious health problems. Setting up a dumping ground close to residential localities is against the government rules. —Major General Arun Khanna (retd), Jalandhar Heights CA

Finding new site needs time

We are working on finding a suitable place somewhere outside the city, where a permanent dump could be set up. But finding a new site will certainly take some time. —Jagdish Raja, Mayor

Residents staged a protest today in front of their housing society, demanding lifting of garbage dumped at the STP. They said they were already demanding shifting of the STP as the entire area around has been developed and thousands of residents were living nearby. However, adding to their woes, the MC had now also started dumping garbage there.

Sukhdev Singh, MD, AGI Infra Ltd, and Major General (retd) Arun Khanna, chief administrator, Jalandhar Heights, said: “We won’t let the MC to set up a dumping ground here as it will pose serious health problems to residents. Setting up a dumping ground close to residential localities is against the government rules. We will take up the matter with the higher authorities.”

Dr Abhinav, a resident, said: “The process of compacting landfill waste generates methane gas, which is 21 times more hazardous than carbon dioxide, highly inflammable and exposes the people living around to the risk of an explosion.” He added the landfill sites emitted poisonous gases, such as hydrogen sulphide, which severely impacts respiratory organs and can cause lung cancer. Besides, dumping sites also released many other toxins that contaminated water, air and soil; therefore, the MC should shift it on the outskirts or somewhere else where there was no residential or commercial property, he said.

Mayor Jagdish Raja, meanwhile, said the MC has to dump the garbage somewhere, and they have adequate space at STP, Pholriwal. He said owing to protests over the dumping issue, the garbage was piling up on roads and vacant plots. “Either the residents take the responsibility and at least segregate the waste at their homes, or they should let the MC do its job. We understand nobody likes to live near a garbage dump, but we have no other option. Moreover, we are also working on finding a suitable place outside the city, where a permanent dump could be set up, but it will take some time”, he added.