Decade-old delay leaves Anantnag waste project stalled

Anantnag, Jun 6: More than a decade after land was identified for a solid waste management facility in south Kashmir, municipal waste continues to be dumped at temporary sites across Anantnag district, including locations along the Jhelum River and its tributaries, as the proposed project remains stalled awaiting environmental clearance.

The Integrated Solid Waste Management Project (ISWMP), proposed at Batengoo-Uranhal on the outskirts of Anantnag town, was conceived to handle municipal waste from the Anantnag, Bijbehara, and Mattan cluster.
Anantnag town has expanded significantly over the past three decades, with similar growth in Bijbehara and Mattan increasing the volume of municipal waste generated in the region.

Despite this, the facility has not become operational.
The project was first planned in 2015 on 30 kanals land, later expanded to 80 kanal.
It is designed to process over 100 metric tonnes of waste per day.
Officials said the proposal was submitted to the Jammu and Kashmir Environment Appraisal Committee (JKEAC) in February 2024 and remains under consideration.

“Almost every department has issued a no-objection certificate, including Ecology and Environment, Forestry, Revenue, Rural Development, NHAI and airport authorities. The Pollution Control Board (PCB) has also recommended the project subject to environmental clearance. We are waiting for final clearance from JKEAC,” an official associated with the project said.

The official said the committee has sought compliance with conditions, including maintaining 33 percent green cover within the project area.
“The approval is still awaited,” he said, adding that the conditions surely will be met once the work starts.
The delay has left municipal bodies dependent on temporary dumping sites for waste disposal across the Anantnag-Bijbehara-Mattan belt.
Residents and environmental activists said non-biodegradable waste, including polythene, plastic bottles and food packaging, is visible at several dumping locations from Mattan to Anantnag to Bijbehara and adjoining areas.

They said these sites are often located near streams, canals and riverbanks linked to the Jhelum system.
They said waste remains exposed in the open and is frequently carried into water channels during rainfall.
At Donipawa near the Arpath stream, a major Jehlum tributary residents said dumping along the stream bank has become routine.
The stream originates in Chatapal, flows through Shangus and Anantnag, and joins the Jhelum at Khanabal.
“When it rains, waste is washed into the stream. The smell increases in summer and stray dogs gather there,” said Mubashir Ahmad, a local.
Another resident, Aaqib Ahmad, said the impact is not limited to the immediate site.

“The waste moves downstream. It finally reaches the Jhelum,” he said.
Residents said similar conditions exist near other water bodies, including the Lidder, Sandran and Achabal streams, along with canals and springs in the district.
Environmental activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat said the absence of a functional waste processing system is adding pressure on the river network.
“When garbage is dumped close to streams and canals, rainfall and runoff carry plastic and other waste into water channels. Many of these streams ultimately drain into the Jhelum,” he said.

The issue drew attention recently after Bhat alleged on social media that waste was being dumped near the Lidder stream at Aakhoora in Mattan.
He said dumping continued despite funds available under sanitation programmes.
The move drew criticism from former chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti, who sought intervention from the district administration.

“What sense does it make for municipalities to treat Lidder as a dumping ground for trash?” she said in a post on social media.
The site was later cleared by authorities.

Officials said the Uranhal facility would include systems for segregation and processing of waste once cleared.
The site already houses a 62-KLD Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSLT), while work on a slaughterhouse is underway.
Executive Officer (EO) of Municipal Council Anantnag, Mirza Asif Ali Beig, said machinery for segregation at source is being procured.
“Work will begin once JKEAC grants clearance,” he said.

Beig said the project includes a 50-tonne-per-day trommel machine and systems for segregation of wet and dry waste at source.
“As of now, we are trying our best to divert waste away from residential areas and water bodies,” he said.