Open house: What needs to be done to clear the Dadu Majra dumping ground in a time-bound manner?

Missing deadlines not acceptable

Faltering to meet deadlines in a good organisation setup is not acceptable. Endeavour should be to clear waste within deadline and not overstep it. For that focus of the top brass should be on getting the job completed. A regular monitoring and review by a core team needs to be in place. Official concerned managing the waste removal work has to be empowered to take decisions within stipulated time.

Sapna Sharda, Chandigarh

QUESTION

The VIP culture is being promoted at the Chandigarh railway station by reserving a lane for “influential people”. This is causing inconvenience to the common man visiting the station. Is the special treatment under the garb of providing safe and secure passage to VIPs justified?

Suggestions in not more than 70 words can be sent to openhouse@tribunemail.com

A challenge for the Administration

The need of the hour is the will to do the work in letter and spirit. There must be arrangements to turn garbage into manure. Wet and dry garbage must be segregated. The staff deployed for removing garbage from dumping ground must be given incentives to speed up the process. The Administration must take the garbage removal a challenge and make sure that it is disposed of within the set deadline.

Capt Amar Jeet (retd), Kharar

Deploy more staff for removal of waste

The waste on the dumping ground is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, can spread dengue and other vector-borne diseases among residents of Dadu Majra and nearby areas. To clear waste from the dumping ground in a time-bound period it’s important to assign work to more staff so that it is divided and completed with efficiency without further any delay. A separate agency should be assigned the task for the bioremediation of the waste.

Samridhi Sharma, Chandigarh

Life of residents has turned hell

Garbage heaps at the Dadu Majra dumping ground have turned the life of people residing around the area into a hell. The speed at which garbage is being shifted from the present location may take years to complete the work. There is a dire need to vacate the place at higher speed with timely action. Responsibility and accountability must be fixed for both the MC and the company assigned the task to clear waste from the dumping ground. It will reduce environment pollution, give relief to people suffocating from years and improve cleanliness of the City Beautiful.

Wg Cdr Jasbir Singh Minhas (retd), Mohali

Segregate, recycle waste at source

Deadline for clearing waste from the Dadu Majra dumping ground is already over. Further extending the waste clearing project is not acceptable to City Beautiful residents. Waste removal work should be done on war footing so that Chandigarh’s ranking goes up in the next ‘Swachch Survekshan’. Help of NGOs and other social organisations must be taken in this regard. Further, it should be ensured that waste at source is segregated and recycled. Organic waste should be converted into manure rather dumping at site like Dadu Majra. No waste should go to the dumping ground.

Col TBS Bedi (retd), Mohali

Can’t blame admn for missing deadline

The waste that has accumulated at the Dadu Majra dumping ground is everyone’s responsibility. The UT Administration just cannot be blamed for its failure to clear waste within set deadline. We as civilized citizens need to join hands in segregating our home waste. Kitchen waste should not go out, but recycled and reused as manure. The authorities must start awareness campaigns to make people understand the gravity of the situation, which is much grimmer than it looks.

Anju Mohan, Panchkula

Civic body is simply passing the buck

The ordeal of Dadu Majra residents has not been addressed by the UT Municipal Corporation (MC). In the coming summer and rainy months residents will have to bear stench emanating from piles of waste accumulated at the dumping ground, besides other insanitary conditions. Elderly suffer the most as they experience breathing problems. Officials of the MC have mismanaged the waste clearing project for long. Who knows whether the waste clearing deadline will be extend again and again till the work is completed? It is simply passing the buck by the MC. Officials concerned are not serious about the work. The dumping site must be cleared immediately.

MR Bhateja, Naya Gaon

Use advanced tech to process waste

The civic authorities should use advance techniques for waste disposal like incineration, recycling and composting. Besides, there should be monetary incentives for individuals, who help the civic body in waste management. Healthcare workers can also motivate people for proper waste disposal by apprising them about diseases caused by pathogens due to piling up of waste nearby their living places.

Nakhpreet Kaur, Sanghol

Proof of official machinery failure

The mountain of waste at Dadu Majra dump is a proof of failure of successive officials, mayors and councillors in maintaining cleanliness in the city. It is an example set by them about how to destroy the city’s beauty. Had the National Green Tribunal not intervened and swachch city rankings not launched by the Central Government, the height of the garbage mountain would gone up further. Whatever may be the projection of the Administration, it will never work until experts in the field of waste management are involved to frame the specifications of equipment and executing the project for clearing waste in a time-bound manner. Getting project reports from one consultant after another is not going to solve the issue in future.

Suresh Verma, Chandigarh

Admn should have acted swiftly

The proverb that ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ is proving true for the Chandigarh Administration. Had it acted swiftly there would have never been such a big heap at Dadu Majra dumping ground and the people in the nearby areas would have been living happily. To clear piles of garbage the Administration should handover the contract to suitable authority, which should not change with the change in the leadership either at the Centre or at the local level itself. It’s sheer wastage of the people’s tax money. Also officials themselves should visit houses to check whether residents have been made pit for turning kitchen waste into compost or not. The Municipal Corporation should encourage people to make compost by announcing incentives so that less waste goes to the dumping ground.

Savita Kuthiala, Chandigarh

Update waste processing plant

The UT Administration should have upgraded waste processing plant to clear garbage in a time-bound matter. There should be strict prohibition on the use of plastic polythene bags as they are non bio-degradable. Recycled materials should be preferred and used by all residents of the UT. Everyone should follow the principle of reduce, reuse and recycle waste. Compositing technique can be adopted by all households. This will reduce waste, generate employment and control land and environment pollution to some extent.

Adish Sood, Amloh

Waste-to-energy plant needed

To clear garbage within stipulated time the UT Administration should allot tenders to suitable company to setup a waste-to-energy plant at Dadu Majra dumping ground. The Administration should also explore technologies and models to setup a wet and dry waste processing plant at Dadu Majra dumping ground.

Anita Tandon, Kharar

UT needs solid waste landfills

Effective landfill management by the Municipal Corporation and operators is necessary to prevent the occurrence of harmful fires at the Dadu Majra dumping ground, which create environment pollution. It calls for need to construct and operate well-engineered municipal solid waste landfills that are regulated under strict union and state governments’ regulations to ensure the protection of human health and the environment and to clear garbage from the dumping ground.

Sanjay Chopra, Mohali

No one held accountable

No government work is completed within stipulated time. It is because no responsibility and accountability is fixed of officials concerned. Now, the Administration wants four more years to clear garage from the Dadu Majra dumping ground. The Administration should deploy more manpower, machinery and bigger trucks for removing garbage from the dump. More funds must be allocated for the completion of garbage removing project.

Sukhwant Bhullar, Chandigarh

Seek expert guidance on waste management

The UT Administration needs to coordinate with all various departments, private agencies and city residents to clear the garbage from the Dadu Majra dumping ground. The Administration should seek expert guidance on how to clear garbage on an urgent basis. Additional staff can be deployed to clear garbage from the dumping ground. RWAs can motivate residents to manage waste at home. Private companies can be hired to clear garbage from the dumping ground within fixed time.

Sunny Dhaliwal, Chandigarh

Demand additional funds from Centre

Considering the team spirit of the Mayor and the strong Opposition, removal of garbage from Dadu Majra dumping ground is not possible before the 2024 General Election. To accomplish this uphill task the Administration and the UT MP should pitch for more funds from the Centre. The MC should construct a wet waste processing plant like Indore. Besides, leaders from the tricity should raise the garbage removal issue in the parliament. Don’t ignore Chandigarh as it has the potential for development, create jobs and contribute to the national economy.

Col Balbir Singh (retd), Chandigarh

Health hazard for UT residents

The garbage dump at Dadu Majra needs immediate attention of the Municipal Corporation and the UT Administration. The dumping site is a serious health hazard for city residents. The smoke emanating from fires on the dumping ground releases toxic elements, which damage skin, eyes and lungs of residents living in its vicinity. Most vulnerable are children, sick and elderly. The Municipal Corporation has already missed deadlines to clear garbage from the dumping site. A state-of-the art solid waste management plant should be set up at Dadu Majra.

Dr Anil Kumar Yadav, Chandigarh

Divide dumping site into zones

The work of legacy waste mining is taking much time and delaying clearing of garbage from the Dadu Majra dumping site. The whole dumping site should be divided into small workable zones. More firms should be allotted different zones to clear waste from the dumping site within set deadline. Firms should deploy latest machines and use modern techniques to remove waste. The movement of material mined from the garbage should be fast-tracked to make space for quick mining.

Bharat Bhushan Sharma, Chandigarh

Earmark new site for dumping waste

Mountain of waste at the Dadu Majra dumping ground is a blot on the city’s beauty. The Administration should impose restrictions on use of plastic bags in the UT. New place for the dumping ground should be earmarked by the Administration where a waste management plant with better capacity and latest technology should be constructed.

Avinash Goyal, Chandigarh

Form panel to fix responsibility

Chandigarh is a modern and beautiful city. The Administration and the public should maintain its standard. The mountain of waste at the Dadu Majra dumping ground is black dot on city’s beauty. The Administration should take suggestion from experts on how to manage waste generated in the UT. A panel can be formed to fix responsibility of the completion of the garbage removal work on officials concerned. The contractors allotted waste clearance work should be experienced and reliable.

Sumesh Kumar Badhwar, Mohali

MC should shun laidback attitude

City residents would vouch for the fact that whenever election season for the Municipal Corporation kicks in, all political parties vie with one another to raise the pitch for clearing mounds of waste at the Dadu Majra dumping ground. However, the deafening din dies down soon after the declaration of elections results. The newly-elected councillors, who had promised to resolve the issue on a priority basis, are now maintaining a stoic silence over the issue. Those manning the affairs of the MC need to shun its laid back stance to ensure clearance of the dumping ground in a time-bound manner, keeping in view the public health issues. They need to take an urgent call on the issue, now or never.

Ramesh K Dhiman, Chandigarh

Apprise people of garbage disposal

The Municipal Corporation must manage solid waste properly. The Administration should find means to teach people through audio visual aids about proper disposal of garbage. The need of the hour is waste management plant. If steps are not taken at the earliest the UT would lose its beauty.

Charu Malhotra, Mohali

Bureaucratic tussle delayed project

Dadu Majra dumping ground has been a health hazard for the city residents for the last couple of years. No serious efforts have been made, neither by the Administration nor by the Municipal Corporation to remove waste from the dumping ground. Bureaucrats under whose city reels come and go. If one bureaucrat comes with a vision to do some work for the city, another opposes it. Consequently, residents especially those residing nearby dump are the worst sufferers. There is no dearth of experts on the subject, who should be involved for the completion of the garbage removal project.

SK Khosla, Chandigarh