The residents of Sheeshambada warned the district administration that they will begin a hunger strike outside the Chief Minister’s residence if no legal action is taken against the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) and Ramky Company which operates the solid waste management plant at Sheeshambada.
According to one of the locals Satpal Dhaniya, “We suspended our indefinite period protest outside the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) on Thursday on receiving assurance from the district administration. We submitted a memorandum and asked the district official to file a case and take legal action against MCD and Ramky Company regarding the improper functioning of the solid waste management and recycling plant or we will commence our hunger strike outside CM’s residence. He has assured us of action in this matter.”
The locals have alleged that there is a huge heap of garbage accumulated inside the waste management plant which is emanating foul smell and pollution in nearby areas.
Besides pollution, the unprocessed garbage is also spreading many disease-causing germs in the area due to which children are regularly falling sick.
Last month, the Leachate Treatment Plant (LTP) was set up to treat the leachate generated from the plant but according to one of the protesting locals, Prem Singh Negi, setting up LTP was of no use because the leachate has already spread in the whole area converting it into a marshy land and it is also getting mixed with groundwater. So it is nearly impossible to treat such kind of waste on such a large scale.
According to another resident Deepa Devi, “In the beginning, we were told that there would be one layer of waste and one layer of soil which will help in the easy decomposition of garbage and hence there would be no smell but later we noticed that every type of garbage is dumped together.
Now this negligence by the management has become a curse for us. Our children have also been affected by this plant. They cannot play outside, cannot go to school without a mask and cannot study in the school without the mask too. I do not know why we are being harassed like this by every department.”
It is pertinent to mention here that the allegations regarding foul smell and disease causing germs have been rejected by the project manager of Sheeshambada waste management plant MA Saify, as according to him there is nothing like foul smell in the area and the locals have made their mind to get rid of the plant despite having no issue in the area caused by the waste management plant.
