Why can’t Govt officials work proactively ? Is it necessary to seek judicial intervention even for waste management or controlling illegal mining ?
THE campaign to save Doodh Ganga stream is gaining momentum as National Green Tribunal (NGT) is seriously monitoring the unscientific waste disposal and illegal Riverbed Mining. The matter was listed before NGT on May 24th. It was again listed for hearing on May 29th. As the counsel for the Government could not provide a satisfactory reply via payment of compensation/penalty money, the tribunal listed the matter again on Tuesday May 30th.
Principal Secretary J&K Housing & Urban Development Department (HUDD) along with Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) were both present during the hearing before NGT. The Government launched a mega sanitation drive around Doodh Ganga on the direction of Principal Secretary Housing & Urban Development Department (HUDD) some days back . On Thursday May 25th the Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Athar Aamir Khan , DC Budgam Akshay Labroo & Chief Engineer UEED Kashmir Naseer Ahmad Kakroo personally visited several areas around Doodh Ganga and directed the authorities to clear all the legacy waste lying around the stream. Senior officials of SMC , UEED , Flood Control Department along with District Officers from Budgam visited Chanapora Bridge pump station,Bagh e Mehtab,Kralpora areas to see the condition of the stream. At Kralpora, SMC Commissioner directed his Chief Sanitation to send sanitation workers from SMC to clear the waste.
SMC clears waste outside its jurisdiction
There is an old saying that where there is a will there’s a way. Srinagar Municipal Corporation’s jurisdiction ends near the Railway bridge in Bagh-e-Mehtab Srinagar. The localities like Mochwa, Kralpora,Gopalpora or Wathoora which are mere 2 to 5 kms from Bagh-e-Mehtab don’t get any sanitation service and with the result a large number of people dump their waste around the banks of Doodh Ganga. These banks have turned into trash collection points and tons of legacy waste is lying there.
When the NGT came heavily on the Govt, the SMC Commissioner personally visited these sites. He felt that many spots needed his intervention even as they were outside SMC’s jurisdiction. Commissioner SMC & DC Budgam after having a personal visit to the huge trash site near Doodh Ganga in Kralpora decided to get it cleared. It was decided to start the mega sanitation work in a few days but the team came to the site the very next day (Friday May 26th). Around 70 to 80 sanitation workers led by Zonal Sanitation Officer Bashir Ahmad Lone and other officers visited Kralpora and cleared the waste dumped by the locals under the Doodh Ganga bridge. Ironically, just 50 meters away from this dump site is Doodh Ganga water filtration plant where the same water is lifted and supplied to a huge population in Srinagar uptown.
Almost 70% of the waste was cleared from Kralpora bridge but more needs to be done. The personal visit of SMC Commissioner and DC Budgam made it all possible. I wish this work was done in the past.
Visit by Director ULB-K
After the SMC Commissioner’s visit , the Director Urban Local Bodies Kashmir (DULB-K) Muthara Masoom also visited the Chadoora town and its adjoining rural areas which are not under her jurisdiction. But as I said, where there is a will , there is a way. The Govt officials are leaving no stone unturned to make Doodh Ganga clean now but I wish they had started working a few years back. Is it necessary for people to always seek judicial intervention from High Courts or National Green Tribunal (NGT) to make the Govt move? After all, Govt officers get good salaries and they have funds available as well but still they are reluctant to work. Director ULB Kashmir visited rural areas of Chadoora namely Sogam,Hanjigund, Wathoora and Goplapora. She directed Municipal Council Chadoora to clear all the legacy waste around Doodh Ganga and the localities she visited. The very next day her officials from Municipal Committee Chadoora were on the job and they reached out to those areas which were not under their jurisdiction.
Give service to people
As I have been saying, waste management programmes are no more a prerogative of people living in cities and towns. Like municipal institutions providing sanitation service to people in urban areas, the gram panchayats in association with NGOs, Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and Self Help Groups (SHG) have to give sanitation service to people in non-municipal areas. Why isn’t the Rural Development Department taking up rural waste management work in the villages located around Doodh Ganga?
Under the national flagship programme, Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) Govt launched solid liquid waste management programmes in several states of India but in Jammu & Kashmir the results of this programme are not visible. The Government purchased trash-bins and undertook civil works making segregation sheds but there is no service available to people for waste collection.
This is the result of people throwing waste near wetlands,streams or rivers in villages especially. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October 2014. All the villages,Districts, States and Union Territories in India declared themselves “open-defecation free” (ODF) by 2 October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by constructing over 100 million toilets in rural India. Phase II of the SBM -Gramin also called ODF-Plus was launched in 2012. The ODF Plus activities Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) were supposed to reinforce ODF behaviours and focus on providing interventions for the safe management of solid and liquid waste in villages, but the desired results have not been achieved at all.
Conclusion
The Govt has finally acted to make Doodh Ganga neat and clean. I would appreciate it if this work continues on a regular basis. If people living near Doodh Ganga banks don’t get sanitation services, the waste will again be thrown into the stream. It is better SMC takes up sanitation work in Mochwa , Kralpora and Gopalpora and Municipal Committee Chadoora is given the task to collect waste in areas like Hanjigund and Wathura located just a few kms from Chadoora town. Right now these localities get no service from any local authority with the result people throw waste on roadside or dump the same near Doodh Ganga banks. Infact people are ready to pay for the sanitation services but the Govt has to take the initiative. A massive Information Education and Communication -IEC programme also has to be launched in the entire stretch of Doodh Ganga from Branwar to Bemina plus people have to be guided how to manage the waste and what are the hazards of dumping waste inside drinking water sources. The NGT’s intervention has generated some hope and this is making the Govt act. Already, the Govt has agreed to spend Rs 149 crores on setting up sewerage treatment plants -STPs on Doodh Ganga and it is hoped that by this year end these plants would be operational.
Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
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