Overflowing waste segregation sheds in Kashmir raise public health concerns

Baramulla, Feb 21: Overflowing waste segregation sheds in Kashmir have raised public health concerns.

Though Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase-II had brought new hope to the 6650 villages of Jammu and Kashmir, but the present state of affairs of the scheme has disillusioned the local population.

The waste collection and segregation sheds established under the scheme are overflowing, with garbage scattered all around causing inconvenience to people.

The initiative, which was launched in 2020-21, was aimed to safely manage solid and liquid waste (SLW) in every gram panchayat of the Union Territory.

The official data has revealed that 6,535 waste collection and segregation sheds were built as part of the programme, besides 50,000 dustbins, 23,826 community soak pits, 12,308 compost pits and 5,527 sanitary complexes to manage disposal of solid and liquid waste.

Local residents have expressed concern over establishment of segregation sheds at “inappropriate” places, while officials hold people responsible for failure of the initiative.

Block Development Officer (BDO) Dr Abdul Rasheed Ganie told Greater Kashmir that segregation sheds were designed to help separate household waste, but residents have turned these sheds into open dumping grounds.

“Households were supposed to separate dry and wet waste and dispose of it in a designated sections,” Ganie said, adding, “Unfortunately people are mixing all types of waste in a single section.”

Even as the government is providing compost kits to help in waste segregation, the system isn’t working due to the lack of public awareness and cooperation.

Imtiyaz Ahmed, a local shopkeeper in Hadipora Rafiabad, has the segregation shed established near his shop and home.

“If people dump garbage in this shed, it will seriously affect our health,” Ahmed said.

Former Sarpanch Mushtaq Ahmed Parray echoed similar concern and said the initiative was good, but has been poorly executed.

“The sheds in our village have been built on the banks of a water stream,” Parray said. “Now, the stream is polluted, and I raised this matter with authorities during the construction period in 2022, but they didn’t pay heed to my concerns.”

Social activist Dr Hamidullah Mir blamed both the public and the government for the failure of the initiative.

“The government gave dustbins, but none of them are in their designated places,” Mir said. “Without proper law and enforcement, waste management in Kashmir will continue to fail.”

Former Sarpanch Ashiq Hussain Wani highlighted that the lack of a proper waste management system has led to foul smell, public health issues, and a rise in stray dogs in the respective areas.

“These sheds have become breeding grounds for dogs, causing a serious safety concern for children walking to schools,” Wani said.

To address the problem, the administration plans to launch a new initiative in March this year.

According to reports a private agency will collect door-to-door waste using five vehicles, each with separate compartments for dry and wet waste. The garbage collected from the sites will be transported to designated barren areas for proper disposal.

Panchayat Inspector Manzoor Ahmed stressed the importance of public responsibility in waste management.

“We’ve asked villagers to contribute ₹50 per month to pay workers for proper waste collection, but there was a poor response from the community”.

Ahmed acknowledged that while the government built large infrastructure projects for waste management, poor implementation and public negligence have rendered them ineffective.

“There are loopholes in the system,” he said. “Without proper management and community involvement, these projects will continue to fail,” he added.