Will industrial city ever get rid of open garbage dumps?

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 4

A garbage-free city is still a distant dream as open garbage dumps across the city, giving an ugly look, are continuously haunting residents. Despite opposition of the residents, the dumps were set up at various locations in the city, even along water bodies such as Buddha Nullah and Sidhwan Canal in the past.

It is difficult for commuters to pass through the Sidhwan Canal Bridge on Gill Road due to the foul smell emanating from the uncovered garbage dump located along the canal. Questions are raised over the role of the Ludhiana MC as to why the dump was created along the water body.

According to information, around 1,100 MT garbage is generated in the city. Garbage dumps near the local Civil Hospital, Scooter Market, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Damoria Bridge, near Jalandhar Bypass, Chandigarh Road, Tajpur Road and other areas are causing trouble for people. The residents complained that the garbage was not being lifted timely from secondary garbage dumps in the city.

Even in many residential areas, vacant plots have turned into garbage dumps. Besides, bins have not been placed in several city markets. Protests have been staged multiple times, demanding removal of the dumps located near residential areas or markets but to no avail. Even, a big dump outside a college on Rani Jhansi Road was removed only when the college authorities had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

An author and resident of Rajguru Nagar, Rajiv Bakshi, said: “All departments, including the MC and the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), should cooperate with each other and ensure redressal of problems related to open dumps. The authorities should ensure timely lifting of garbage and pay attention towards vacant plots turning into trash grounds. They must take steps to make the city garbage-free.”

A senior citizen, Satish Thaman, said the lifting of garbage should be done from the dumps on a war footing.

“At present, stray cattle are seen roaming and feeding on garbage at the dumps. Such dumps should not be placed near residential areas and markets. Besides, the static waste compactors should be installed and made functional at the earliest,” he said.

In the recently announced Swachh Survekshan 2020 rankings, the city has ranked 34 of the 47 cities (above 10 lakh population). But, a total of 151 cities, including 118 cities of population between 1-10 lakh and 33 cities having population above 10 lakh, have obtained more marks than the Ludhiana’s score (3113.06) in the Survekshan 2020.

Campaigns to segregate waste come cropper

A number of campaigns for segregation of waste have been conducted during the past six years. But waste segregation is not being done properly. In 2014, the MC and the A2Z Group had started a drive to distribute two types of bins (green for collecting biodegradable waste and blue for non-biodegradable waste) for waste segregation. One lakh bins were supposed to be distributed but the drive was stalled on the day it was launched as the then mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria had raised questions over the poor quality of the bins. A similar drive, under which green and blue bins were distributed in a ward, was launched in 2017. However, the MC has failed to ensure segregation of waste properly. At present, there is no segregation of waste in most of the areas.

It had installed first static waste compactor to deal with a major uncovered garbage dump near Canal Bridge in 2016 and since then, it has been planning to install compactors at other locations. The LIT had started a project to set up such compactors at eight sites a year ago. However, the compactors have been installed at Sarabha Nagar, BRS Nagar and Rishi Nagar months ago but these have not been made functional.

“We have floated tenders to purchase vehicles for loading and unloading of garbage from static waste compactors. Once we get these vehicles, the compactors will be made functional,” said Boota Ram, LIT engineer. Besides, a project to set up compactors at 22 locations in the city under the Smart City mission is yet to see the light of day.

Lack of proper waste disposal system

The MC had signed an agreement with a firm, A2Z Group, for solid waste management in 2011 for a period of 25 years. A senior official of the PPCB, Ludhiana, said the waste was not being disposed of properly and it was found that the plant was working at only 14 per cent of capacity. A large quantity of legacy waste (old waste) has got collected at the MC’s main garbage dumping site, near Kakka Road, here, and the landfill site looks like hills. As per the Solid Waste Management Rules, the MC is supposed to ensure remediation of the legacy waste.

Once dissatisfied from the garbage lifting process, the MC had issued a notice to the A2Z Group to terminate its services in June 2015 but the firm had then moved the court and continued its services. It recently stopped operating the refuse derived fuel plant and compost plant at the main dumping site.

“The plant has been stopped as we have not received the consent from the PPCB. Earlier, we were assured that the consent will be given but the PPCB raised objections. Now, talks are on to resolve the matter,” said Vishant Chaudhary of A2Z Group.

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