Heart of Punjab: Time to choose between politics of freebies, quality of life
The failure of the Aam Aadmi Party in securing a third consecutive term in Delhi, despite its much-publicised governance mode, has set the alarm bells ringing in party-ruled Punjab ahead of the 2027 state Assembly poll. Despite the bid to replicate the Delhi model on a macro-level in Punjab, state’s 167 urban local bodies are struggling with “safai, sadak, pashu and pardushan” issues, affecting lives of over 3 crore Punjabis.
The Delhi loss has shown that freebie politics cannot hold its sheen for long, if not followed with on-the-ground development and infrastructure improvements. The Opposition parties in Punjab too have targeted AAP over unfulfilled pre-poll promises. Meanwhile, the state of basic amenities remains worrisome.
Crores of rupees spent on upgrading civic infrastructure, especially under the Smart Cities Mission in Ludhiana (Rs 950 crore), Amritsar (Rs 300 crore) and Jalandhar (Rs 860 crore), isn’t reflecting on the ground.
Heaps of garbage, encroachments, overflowing open drains, non-functional streetlights and freely roaming stray cattle leading to road accidents are a usual site as residents admit lack of any visible change in their quality of life.
Punjab has been struggling to bridge the wide gap between the quantity of solid waste generated and the capacity of its 167 urban local bodies to treat it, facing the ire of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Last year, the AAP government admitted before the green tribunal that only 41 per cent of the solid waste generated in the state was being treated.
In an affidavit, the government told the NGT that the state generated a total of 4,376 tonnes per day (TPD) of solid waste, of which only 2,040 TPD was being processed.
The urban bodies in four major centre— Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Patiala — were processing less than half of the waste they generated. These four municipal corporations are among the 78 municipalities that have set the goal of treating 100 per cent solid waste generated under their jurisdiction by December 2025. Punjab’s progress in addressing legacy waste, which consists of waste collected and stored for extended periods in barren lands or designated landfill sites, has been sluggish.
Data suggests that in Jalandhar city, 500 tonnes per day of waste remains untreated. The Waraiana dumping site, which had 700 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage nearly six years ago, has a whopping 10 lakh MT tonnes of accumulated waste today.
In Ludhiana, the issue of solid waste management is much more serious. The city produces around 1,100 tonnes of solid waste per day.
About 3,000 tonnes of waste is collected in Punjab every day by 13 municipal corporations. A whopping 21 lakh metric tonnes of solid waste is lying dumped over 50 acres at its Jamalpur landfill on Tajpur Road in Ludhiana.
In Amritsar, the Punjab Pollution Control Board has identified glaring lapses in solid waste disposal.
The Bhagtanwala dump alone has accumulated over 10 lakh metric tonnes of waste over the past 30 years, with fresh waste still being added regularly. The city generates around 500 metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily. Over the last two years, even ruling party MLAs have raised during Assembly sessions issues related to sewerage, water contamination and garbage collection.
Now, it needs to be seen whether Punjabis will continue to fall for freebies or opt for better quality of life for themselves and their future generations.
