Srinagar, Oct 29: The government on Wednesday admitted that the Achan garbage dump, where 550 tonnes of garbage are dumped daily, is a health and environmental hazard and promised a clean-up amid prosecutions and fines while pinning hopes on the bio-remediation to clear the 11 lakh tones of legacy waste.
Replying to a question in the J&K Legislative Assembly by National Conference (NC) Member of Legislative Assembly from Eidgah, Mubarak Gul, who sought details of remediation plans regarding the largest garbage dump in Kashmir, the government said that 550 tonnes of waste was being dumped daily at the Achan site in Srinagar.
The Housing and Urban Development Department (H&UDD), which is one of the portfolios with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, accented that the garbage dump was a constant source of environment and health hazards, while detailing the action plan for its bio-remediation.
The government reply stated that the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) had formulated and was in the process of implementing a comprehensive action plan for scientific waste management under Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 and CITIIS 2.0.
In his question, MLA Mubarak Gul asked if the delay in the formulation of a plan for addressing the issue had resulted in continued health hazards and sought details of bio-mining and bio-remediation of 11 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste.
The government, while detailing the steps taken, said a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for scientific waste management, vetted by the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar, had been submitted for financial concurrence.
The MLA asked if the Pollution Control Committee (PCC) and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had voiced concerns about the long-term health hazards in the area and what the reasons were for the delayed implementation of the corrective plan.
The government replied, “The DPR had been submitted.” On whether the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a Rs 12 crore fine on the SMC for over 1800 days of violations under Solid Waste Management norms in March this year, the government said the list of the officers posted in SMC since 2017-18 was shared with JKPCC.
“It (JKPCC) has filed complaints against the concerned officers for violations under relevant provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, before Adjudicating Officer J&K (Commissioner Secretary to Government, Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment),” the government replied.
The government said that steps were being taken to ensure total scientific waste management at the Achan landfill site.
Detailing the initiatives, it said efforts for minimising dependency on the Achan site were underway.
“These include bio-mining of legacy waste of 11 lakh metric tonnes. In addition, construction of the 125 TPD C&D processing plant 105 was also in progress,” the government said. “The government is also setting up waste processing facilities. These include the establishment of 459 TPD Material Recovery Facility (MRF), 300 TPD Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant, and 300 TPD Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) Plant under SBM 2.0 and CITIIS 2.0.”
It said efforts were on for decentralised waste management through the development of three Garbage Transfer Stations (GTSs) with a combined capacity of 367.22 TPD.
“This will also have localised composting and pre-sorting units,” the government said.
It said that for health concerns, a Leachate Treatment and Odour Control were being operationalised.
The government also committed that over 3200 trees would be planted around the facility to form a green buffer.
The Achan landfill site has been in the news for being one of the biggest environmental and health concerns in Srinagar, affecting thousands of families that live in the vicinity. It is a significant issue for nearby Anchar Lake and SKIMS Soura as well.
