Dumping of garbage in open poses threat to residents’ health

Vikram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 10

After more than one and half years of its official launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ( SBA) does not seem to have reached Jammu and Kashmir yet.

Heaps of garbage in Jammu city’s pivotal points and streets and roads remaining littered with plastic waste, fallen leaves, wrappers, empty bottles and animal excreta was a usual phenomenon before the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and same is the condition after one and a half year of it.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was officially announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014 from Rajghat, New Delhi.

The Jammu Municipal Corporation’s nonchalance adds to the miseries of residents as it rarely takes up the cleaning of streets and roads.

The filth and grime from drains when cleaned is placed as mounds in the streets to dry, which leads to stink in the locality and breeding ground for mosquitoes. This leads to spread of various water and vector-borne diseases.

“Dengue, filariasis, chikungunya and the latest zika fever have become routine diseases here due to such filth and garbage,” said Devender Soni, a businessman in Gandhi Nagar.

Besides, the dried-up garbage in the streets of mohallas is later burned, the smoke of which, besides creating air pollution, leads to aggravation of respiratory diseases in residents of the area.

“Many people have common respiratory disease like asthma. The smoke coming out of the burning garbage contains high quantity of toxins, which can be fatal also. The authorities seem to have no concern about it,” said Devender Soni.

Overflowing dustbins and stinking open garbage collection centres add to the woes of the residents.

Also open plots in many residential areas are allegedly being misused as dumping ground for waste, garbage and rotten material.

The health and sanitation wing of the Jammu Municipal Corporation is headed by a health officer and assisted by two sanitation officers and four assistant sanitation officers. This is the only section of the JMC which attends/redresses complaints to provide clean, hygienic and pollution-free environment to the public.

When JMC Health officer Saleem Khan was asked about the situation he said they tried to work effectively with the available resources.

“Quite often I have taken to task many of our safai karamcharies who are delinquent in the discharge of their duties. The filth is taken out of drains and put on the roadsides for just one day so that the water seeps out of it and the next day our trolleys and loaders take the same to dumping station at Bhagwati Nagar,” said Saleem Khan.

He, however, added that the JMC’s sanitary staff also worked for extra hours in case of any complaint from any specific area. “We make sure that the loaders surf each and every corner of the city to keep it clean,” he said.

Under the Sawach Bharat Abhiyan, three sanitation campaigns were organised by the Jammu Municipal Corporation from September 26, 2015 to October 2, 2015, October 15, 2015 to October 21, 2015 and November 12, 2015 to November 19, 2015.

During these campaigns public in general was requested to avoid the use of polythene which is the main cause for choking of drains and nullahs. They were also requested not to burn garbage as it causes pollution and can lead to serious health hazards.