The Tale of the Dump
Written on April 25th, 2018 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}It’s a surprisingly breezy summer evening. You decide that the weather is too good to be locked in your room, you open the door and step out only to be bombarded by an extremely foul smell. The smell that mostly emanates in the evenings or late at night is a problem for all of us at BPHC. We have often wondered what the cause of the stench is. After digging around we have found out that the root of our problem is located about 3 km away from our campus, the Jawahar Nagar Dump Yard. Spread over an area of 350 acres, the waste from the entirety of the twin cities is dumped here.
A Background
Established in 2001 by the then Telugu Desam Party government, an
area of 330 acres was allotted as the dump site for three
municipalities: Alwal, Uppal, and Kapra. This arrangement was to be over
a period of 4 years. However, in 2004 the next Congress party
government took to the expansion of the dumpsite and soon the waste from
all municipalities under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation(GHMC) was transported to be dumped here. The refuse of about
60 lakh people resulting in 4000 metric tonnes of garbage is dumped
here everyday.
In the year 2007, the Congress government entered into a 20 year long
agreement with a company called Ramky. The agreement states that Ramky
will be responsible for proper disposal of the waste, this means that
they have to segregate and recycle the waste and sell the recycled
materials back to the government at a subsidised cost. They also have to
provide the residents with hospitals, clean water, electricity and
other such basic amenities. In return, the government will pay Ramky Rs
1431/- for every metric tonne of waste they process. This gives Ramky
approximately Rs 60,00,000 per day. However, the duties on the part of
Ramky are not fulfilled. Instead of proper treatment of the waste, it is
being burnt in an unruly manner. Burning the garbage causes significant
harm to the environment and the smoke and smell produced is are major
causes for concern.
The Effects
The smell is just a nuisance to us but to approximately 1,50,000
people living around the area it is a serious health hazard. There are
35 villages surrounding the dump site. Every time there is a breeze the
smell comes with it to torment them, rains and winds only make it worse.
Living in such proximity to a mountain of trash has resulted in a wide
array of diseases to the residents. Skin diseases, asthma, cough, and
joint pains are among the common ones. The problem of mosquitoes is a
significant one as well. The expanse of the garbage has also generated
an enormous amount of leachate contaminating 14 lakes in Jawahar Nagar.
Ground water bore wells rarely bring out the water and when they do it
is black in colour and contaminated. The Geological Survey of India has
deemed the groundwater to be unusable for the next 8 years. As a result
of the degradation of water even the crops and animals are dying in the
area.
Jawahar Nagar used to have fertile lands but because of the soil and
water degradation the lands are left barren. Consequently, many farmers
in the area have found themselves without a means of survival. The
situation of the stonecutters is similar. A large community of
stonecutters depended on the rocks and boulders of the Jawahar Nagar
hill to earn their bread and butter but now the hill of rocks has been
transformed into a giant heap of trash. To make matters worse the Rajiv
Gruha Kalpa project, where houses are allotted to the poor and middle
class by the government at low rates is just next to the yard. The
people who haven't already vacated, live in these testing circumstances
as they cannot afford a house elsewhere.
Conclusion
Improper treatment of the waste is the central reason for all the
problems arising out of the dump. Processing centres around the city can
be set up, to ensure that all waste is processed and recycled
efficiently. Metal and plastic can be reused and biodegradable waste can
be composted and turned into manure. Having localised small scale
dumping yards instead of a single big one is a possible solution too.
The battle against the stench is one that has been waged for the past
16 years. This is an issue which received a lot of attention from our
college authorities ever since its inception. Our ex-director Prof. V.S.
Rao himself pursued the matter by writing numerous letters to the
concerned officials. However, through the change of many governments the
Jawahar Nagar dump yard has only seen an increase in the amount of
waste that is being dumped there. The problem of the smell is a far
greater one than what it initially seemed like, it is one with a lot of
lives at stake.
References
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/030316/hyderabad-jawaharnagar-garbage-dump-yard-a-sore-area-for-real-estate-development.html
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/180516/for-three-years-no-change-in-capping-at-the-jawahar-nagar-dumping-yard-in-hyderabad.html
https://swachhbharat.mygov.in/activities/jawahar-nagar-dumping-yard-inspection-zonal-commissioner-ez-ghmc-amoh-circle-1-kapra-ghmc
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/The-filthy-tale-of-Jawahar-Nagar/articleshow/49176786.cms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R2oaFl-2RQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw42zb7-v2I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN_BQSxW774
Article by Aishwarya Rebelly, Vikranth Sagar, Suraj Thotakura
Originally published on 31st August, 2017 on BITS Chronicles