Environment is supposedly a serious issue for the governments and non-governmental organisations alike.. Go through the following story and you will realise the hazardous impact looming on our environment, if garbage dumping in the landfill site developed by the Municipal Corporation against Rs 40 million comes to a halt.. Obviously the civic body would be compelled to throw it in the river as it used to do previously.. Government's indifference to some of the genuine problems/issues of the civic body like installation of recycling plant also speaks volumes of its avowals to giving us a clean environment. As of today, the story has not appeared in my paper.
By Tariq Naqash
MUZAFFARABAD, June 13: The Municipal Corporation Muzaffarabad (MCM) is facing serious problems in disposing off heaps of garbage in a landfill site near here as some residents of the surrounding areas are violently resisting the practice due to vested interests.
The 35-kanal landfill site was purchased by the civic body in October 2003 near Zaminabad village, some 32 kilometres from here off Muzaffarabad-Kohala road, against Rs 40 million to bury the garbage collected from the sprawling state capital.
However, waste disposal in the site practically began in February last year after the AJK Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took serious exception to garbage dumping in River Jhelum from different spots.
Though the vested interests were frowning upon the practice ever since, but on Thursday around a dozen people from the area manhandled the corporation’s sanitary staff and also badly damaged a wheel-loader worth Rs 15 million, MCM Administrator Khurshid ul Hassan Bazmi told this correspondent.
The accused persons also beat the night watchman and uprooted his residential tent before damaging the wheel-loader based permanently on the site to dig trenches for garbage disposal, he added.
A complaint was lodged by the corporation against the accused persons, six of whom were arrested by the police late Thursday night.
However the main accused, identified as Farrukh Baig, was still at large and hurling threats on the MCM officials, Mr Bazmi said.
The offenders, according to him, wanted to grab landfill site’s land to construct a poultry farm there after obtaining loans from banks.
He pointed out that the population of Muzaffarabad had surged to 120,000 while another 30,000 people would daily visit it from suburbs and far flung areas.
Such number of people generated 75 tons of garbage daily but the MCM had only a 74 member sanitary staff for its collection and disposal, he said.
After the EPA warning, he said, the civic body started garbage dumping in Zaminabad landfill site notwithstanding acute shortage of funds for fuel.
However, Thursday’s incident had frightened off the civic body staffers who were reluctant to transport garbage there for fear of life, he added.
On Friday, garbage laden dumpers were sent to the dumping site under police protection but the administrator said he was worried how long the police could provide such a cover.
At the weekend, loads of garbage had piled up in the town and Mr Bazmi warned that many neighbourhoods could wear the looks of filth depots if the problem was not addressed.
He told that last year the corporation had planned installation of a recycling plant through the private sector to convert garbage into fertilizer but the plan could not be actualised due to some genuine concerns of investors.
“The investors want guarantees through official notification from the government and unless they are given the same this plan will remain in limbo.”
Mr Bazmi regretted that the government’s response was not compatible with increase in capital’s population and allied civic issues.
Ends
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