PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Residents from the Pachhwadun region staged a demonstration at the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) office here on Friday, demanding immediate shift of the garbage disposal plant from Sheeshambada.
People from Sheeshambada and nearby localities gathered under the banner of Pachhwadun Joint Committee and raised slogans against the civic body. They alleged that dumping the city’s entire waste at the plant has been creating serious health and other problems for those living in its proximity.
Venting his anguish, the president of the agitating committee, Chaitanya Anil Gaur said that the foul stench coming from the waste heaps is making their life miserable.
Residents also alleged that leachate, contaminated liquid seeping from the garbage piles, has been polluting groundwater in the area. They added that despite MCD having earlier promised to remove accumulated waste and process it using modern machinery, no significant progress has been made so far.
The committee’s spokesperson Rai Singh pointed out that the civic body had stated around six months ago that it would search for land to shift the plant. “But nothing has happened so far and we continue to suffer thanks to the civic body’s indifference,” he said.
The agitators further said that even the chief minister’s directive is being ignored. “He earlier directed officials during a programme in Selaqui to relocate the Sheeshambada plant, but no concrete action has been taken yet to execute the order,” an agitator stated.
The aggrieved residents warned that if the stalemate is not resolved soon, they would lock the MCD office as well as the Sheeshambada waste plant.
When contacted the additional municipal commissioner, Praveen Kumar said that a joint on-site inspection of the plant would be conducted within a week in the presence of residents, after which an appropriate solution would be found.
