Article 21: Achan’s last hope
Srinagar, Nov 1: Achan has long awaited the fulfillment of a constitutional promise.
Article 21, the constitutional guarantee for the right to life, also safeguards the right to a clean and pollution-free environment that translates into breathable air and disease-free water.
However, for thousands of families living in and around the “filth island” of Achan Landfill, there is an unrelenting defiance of the most sacred of constitutional guarantees.
As per the official figures, 550 tonnes of garbage are dumped every day at the Achan Landfill site.
At present, 11 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste have accumulated at the site, untreated and unattended since 1986, when it was selected as the site to dump Srinagar’s garbage.
An estimated 50,000 people live in the close vicinity of this unlined behemoth.
The site is at a perilous distance from the eco-fragile Anchar Lake. For the population, Article 21 just rings hollow, as they give in to an everyday life of torturous breathing, frequent illnesses.
Triggered by leachate-laced groundwater, heavy metal-laden soils, and methane-choked skies, the lives of Achan and Achan neighbourhood dwellers are no less than living a nightmare.
A 2014 study from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K), ‘Effect of Depth and Age on Leachate Characteristics of Achan Landfill,’ amply provides evidence.
It talks about the acidic pH fluctuations, as low as 5.2-5.7 near the surface. It finds elevated electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS) in the thousands of mg/L, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) that signal high biodegradability risks.
In addition, heavy metals were also found to exceed WHO limits in shallow layers.
This could explain the eutrophication of Anchar Lake and the algal blooms decimating fish populations.
A just-published year-long PLOS ONE study, ‘Landfill Leachate: An Invisible Threat to Soil Quality of Temperate Himalayas,’ escalates the alarm.
It samples Achan’s environs across four 2022 seasons, and finds that heavy metals dominate.
With lead (Pb) at 85 mg/kg (at threshold), and nickel (Ni) peaking at 29.7 mg/kg in summer, the soil pH dipped to acidic lows, reaffirming the 2014 leachate data.
The study raises a red flag that the leachates reduce fertility by 30 percent, rendering the adjacent farmlands barren. In a landmark April 2024 ruling on climate change, the Supreme Court chipped in protections against adverse climate impacts. It said, “Without a clean environment which is stable and unimpacted by the vagaries of climate change, the right to life is not fully realised.”
Just last week, the apex court reiterated this in a stubble-burning case, saying it is a “fundamental right to live in a pollution-free environment”. The principle “polluter pays” from the Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action versus Union of India (1996) mandates the government to remediate harms caused to people in Achan. The contamination fuels a surge in waterborne diseases among the population.
Diarrhea, hepatitis, and skin afflictions are common ailments affecting people. The aerial assaults compound the health issues. Methane emissions of dangerously high levels worsen Srinagar’s winter air quality overall and around the site, particularly. The National Green Tribunal’s deadline to Srinagar Municipal Corporation for clearing the legacy waste mountain in two years is a hope, but not immediate. Residents demand a fair assessment of the effects of the air and water contamination on their health and adequate remedial measures.
Article 21 guarantees them this right. It’s Achan’s last hope.
