‘Srinagar burdened by over 11.5 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste at Achan’
Srinagar, Dec 15: Raising serious concerns over rising pollution levels and waste management in Srinagar city, MLA Zadibal Tanvir Sadiq, on Tuesday, strongly advocated biomining as the future and called upon cement plants to upgrade their systems to utilise Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) as an alternative fuel.
Speaking at the District Development Meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Sadiq said that pollution is an undeniable reality, particularly for Srinagar residents, but stressed that activism, knee-jerk reactions, or blanket bans are not sustainable solutions.
“Pollution is real and it affects public health every single day. But banning without regulation only shifts the burden onto ordinary citizens. What we need is scientific regulation, not ad-hoc restrictions,” he said.
Highlighting the impact of construction material shortages, Tanvir pointed out that sand and bajri prices have increased nearly three times, from ₹15–16,000 to exorbitant levels, despite continued availability from quarries.
“People are paying the price for poor regulation. Construction material is available, but at three times the cost. This hurts common citizens the most,” he added, urging the administration to regulate quarries instead of shutting them down.
Earlier, while speaking specifically on the Achan dumping site, Tanvir described the situation as an existential crisis for Srinagar’s and public health. He informed the meeting that Srinagar is burdened with over 11–11.5 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste spread across 126 acres.
He further outlined the daily waste generation 524 tonnes per day (TPD), total waste out of which 340 TPD organic waste and around 120 TPD is RDF.
While welcoming the process of starting the biomining process at Achan, Tanvir cautioned that biomining will succeed only if RDF is actually lifted and utilised.
“Biomining is the right step, and is being done by many states of the country. But unless cement plants lift RDF, the entire exercise will fail. RDF cannot be taken out, and as it's not viable and it will lie there indefinitely,” he warned.
Tanvir urged the Chief Minister to take the Pollution Control Board (PCB) and cement plants on board and ensure that cement plants upgrade their systems to use RDF as fuel. He explained that cement kilns are the safest and most scientific destination for RDF and will resolve our waste disposal for all times to come.
Responding to the concerns raised, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah acknowledged the issue and assured the MLAs that the administration would explore the feasibility of RDF utilisation by cement plants.
Asking the Commissioner SMC Fazlul Haseeb to work on it, the CM said, “If cement plants can use RDF, it can significantly resolve our waste management issues,” “explore this on an urgent basis” the CM said, while reiterating that banning is not the solution regulation is. He directed the administration to examine the matter in detail.
Sadiq also raised serious concerns over the quality of drinking water supplied from Dal and Nigeen lakes, stating that the water being supplied to Srinagar city is unfit for human consumption and poses a public health risk.
He said that the Turbidity: NTU should be less than 1 but the water from these lakes is way above the limits. Tanvir informed the meeting that he has an official document from GMC confirming the poor quality of supplied water. He said conventional treatment plants cannot adequately treat heavily polluted lake water, which contains high levels of coliform bacteria, ammonia, organic pollutants and algal toxins, often exceeding BIS drinking water standards, as reflected in CPCB, LCMA and NEERI reports.
The MLA stressed the need for advanced water treatment technologies and immediate upgradation of existing infrastructure to ensure safe drinking water for Srinagar’s residents.
Tanvir also highlighted the humanitarian concerns of Mir Behri Dal residents, saying they have been enied basic civic amenities. He asserted that environmental protection must go hand in hand with human dignity, and urged the administration to ensure basic amenities and a dignified life for lake dwellers.
