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Category: ENVIRONMENT

Published: 25 October 2015

SRINAGAR:  Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Saturday chaired a meeting to discuss various options for treating waste by using latest technologies for cleaner and healthier environment. During the meeting, a presentation was also given on waste-to-value technology that makes garbage disposal not only scientific but a source of sustained revenue generation for the government by trading in end products.   

Minister of State for H&UDD, I&C and Power, Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Chief Secretary, B. R. Sharma, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B. B. Vyas and Secretary Tourism, Farooq A. Shah were present on the occasion. 

Various options available with the government for adopting best practices in tackling ever-growing problem of solid waste management were discussed in the meeting. It was given out that all the government agencies linked to waste management which include ERA, Tourism Department, ULBs and the Municipal Corporations will finalise modalities for treating waste by using latest technologies in an eco-friendly way.

The meeting discussed different smart technologies regarding wet waste composting which generate organic manure that can be used by farmers as fertilizer. Recycling of dry waste like plastic, paper and metal as well as non-recyclable bits, which can be compacted in landfills, was also discussed threadbare.  

It was highlighted that the waste at Achan Landfill site needs to be segregated as it will enhance its capacity and also address the issue of leachate collection at the site, which results in stinking of catchment areas. Various technologies which can handle segregated and un-segregated solid waste in a better way without causing harm to environment and ecology were also deliberated upon during the meeting.

The government has tasked Commissioners of SMC and JMC to expand the scope of household-to-household collection and segregation of waste so that more habitations are covered. Srinagar, with a population of 11.9 lakh, produces nearly 600 MT of waste every day out of which around 450 MT is collected and disposed of at Achan, where SMC has 925 kanals of land for garbage disposal.    

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will release funds’ tranche for construction of Cell 3 at Achan after the waste is pre-sorted and segregated, preferably by windrow composting that destroys pathogens and removes bad smell by accelerated bioconversion processes. ERA is executing the project at Achan under its ADB-funded Multi-Sector Project for Infrastructure Rehabilitation (MSPIR).  

It was given out in the meeting that the government will use a range of collection and treatment methods which handles all materials in a manner which are environmentally effective and economically affordable. The meeting also underscored the need for putting in place a mechanism for solid waste and garbage disposal at Gulmarg and Patnitop, on the pattern of Pahalgam, as these tourist destinations also receive significant number of tourists round the year, thus becoming susceptible to waste hazards.

The presentation also threw light on different procedures involved in waste disposal which result in end products like pelletized high-value organic manure, fuel briquettes and plastic granules which have both agricultural and industrial value and in which the state can generate a certain amount of revenue. Also present in the meeting were Commissioner SMC, Showkat Ahmad Zargar, Director ULBs, Kashmir, Tufail Mattoo and CEO ERA, Vinod Sharma.