Unfenced, situated next to fruit mandi, playground, the garbage continues to pollute Rambiara river and the environment

Shopian: On the one hand municipal authorities in Shopian are spending Rs 43 lakhs on construction of a clock tower at Gol Chowk in Shopian town, while on the other hand the newly designated dumping site between Aglar and Naidgund villages along the Rambiara river has been left without any fence, harming both the environment and the health of residents and business community in the area.

This site was designated for dumping of town waste almost a year ago, without taking into consideration the environmental hazards due to it being situated near the district’s largest water body, the Rambiara river.

Locals from Naidgund told Kashmir Reader that they complained to higher authorities that the area should not be used for dumping of wastes, but the authorities did not even care to fence the site to prevent the invasion of stray dogs.

The locals said that the government has given a huge patch of land near the dumping site to private players to establish cold storage units and another large area is being used for the mega fruit mandi where hundreds of people work, but all of them face inconvenience due to the presence of dogs and bad odour.

“It is insane to have business installations and a dumping site in the same area. There are water bodies, a playground, and horticulture land around the site, which can get heavily polluted due to the dumping of waste,” said Javid Ahmad, a local from Naidgund village.

Villagers said that hundreds of villages in Shopian and Pulwama are dependent on the Rambiara for irrigation purpose, which will get irreparably polluted if the site is permanently used for dumping.

Executive Officer of Municipal Committee Shopian, Jahid Azad, told Kashmir Reader that they have environmental clearances from the government.

“A technical team has also given its report. We were busy with land transfer but now tenders have been issued for fencing of the site,” he said, adding that it will be done very soon.

It’s pertinent to mention here that before this site, the Municipal Committee Shopian was dumping the town waste at another area near the Rambiara, but that site was close to the mini secretariat and due to this it was shifted, but the Rambiara rivulet continues to be the victim of pollution.

Raashid Hassan