• GMC has failed to shift garbage site after 9 months of NGT order
• Now dumping site won’t be shifted, solid waste management project will come up instead
• Four different locations have been identified for the same
• GMC has been allotted Rs 10 crores for the project
• Waste-to-energy and waste-to-manure projects will be set up
After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) to shift the dumping ground to a different location from Boragaon, the municipal body has failed to do so even after nine months of the order.
Further, the concerned authorities informed G Plus that they have now decided not to shift the dumping site but will instead install solid waste management projects at four different locations in and around the city.
Boragaon dumping ground of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) is posing a threat to the natural habitation at Deepor Beel just on the outskirts of the city. The site is protected under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, 1971. The area has been suffering from environmental degradation due to continuous waste dumping since 2004.
“We have now given up the idea of creating another dumping ground, we are going to establish integrated solid waste management project. Once it becomes operational, there will be no need of another dumping ground. So, the question of shifting of dumping site does not arise,” GMC commissioner, Debeswar Malakar told G Plus.
He added that once the project starts, garbage will no longer be dumped at Boragaon, but will be sent to the plants for treatment.
The GMC has already been allotted Rs 10 crores for the project by the state government.
The district administration has identified four places to set up the integrated solid waste management project. Further, a formal allotment order was also issued which was approved by land advisory committee around a week ago.
Currently, the GMC is awaiting the official possession of the plots to initiate the work on the project. Malakar mentioned that these four plots are located in Chandrapur, Sonapur, Bashistha and Udalbakra.
However, the officials are facing resistance by the local residents at these allotted sites.
“The residents are thinking that we are going to create another dumping ground at these places. But this is not true, we are only going to establish solid waste management projects,” said the GMC commissioner.
The authorities have decided to set up waste-to-energy projects and waste-to-manure projects at these selected locations. However, sources informed that it will take time for the projects to become operational.
Deepor Beel continues to suffer due with continuous waste dumping
The government body had been ordered by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on April 29, 2019 to shift the dumping site within a period of two months. The order was passed by the Principal Bench of the NGT and also directed the GMC to file an affidavit on the steps that it will take to shift the dumping ground to the new site.
The continuous garbage dumping by the GMC is causing serious health issues among the local residents, who have demanded that the garbage dumping should be stopped immediately.
The area, which is home to many endangered species of birds and animals, is being continually exposed to water body pollutants and other harmful chemicals which have now put the lives of many endangered species under threat.
Parimal Suklabaidya, minister of fisheries, excise, and environment & forest, in February 2019, had said that pollutants as well as the waste materials from the dump site have become a matter of serious concern for the ecologically-sensitive Deepor Beel. He even warned the people from consuming fish caught from the Beel because of the rampant pollution.
While raising the issue in the Assembly session, Parimal Suklabaidya said that all the waste from across the city are dumped at the Boragaon site which has led to spillage of the garbage into Deepor Beel thus polluting the water body.
Environmentalists say that the Boragaon dumping site is located at an important place with respect to its proximity to important institutions and the Deepor Beel. They have also been demanding shifting the site to a new location for the past many years.
“I strongly feel that the Boragaon dumping ground should be shifted to a new location at the earliest since no dumping of waste and garbage should take place near a water body and important institution buildings,” informed a city-based environmentalist.
He added that Boragaon is an important location with respect to the flora and fauna and is also in a green belt. Therefore, dumping of city waste should not take place here.
