Jahangeer Ganaie
Pulwama, Nov 2: The Small Industries Development Corporations (SIDCOs) Industrial area at Lassipora in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district is functioning without a waste disposal facility while no health care facilities are also available at the estate, unit holders alleged.
The unit holders said that the whole garbage generated at the industrial area is being dumped on the bank of rivulet Rambi Ara, thereby posing a threat to the water body on which thousands of people are dependent for drinking and irrigation purposes.
Official sources in the Industrial area said that every day heaps of garbage is being thrown into the rivulet, which poses health hazards to thousands of people.
They said that despite repeated communications to the unit holders to use dustbins which will be taken up by municipal authorities every day, most of the unit holders are resorting to dumping all waste in the main water body.
Locals from Heff, Shirmal, Sugan, Achan, Petipora, Panjran and its adjacent areas said the garbage is being openly thrown into the water body.
They said that they have brought this issue into the notice of concerned authorities several times but to no avail.
Unit holders said that there is no other option for them as there is no waste management plant in such a vast industrial estate, which is spread over around six thousand kanals. “Until and unless the government won’t provide such facilities, there is no other option before us than to dump the waste in the open,” they said.
Industrial zone is housing more than 400 units but there is no health care or emergency facility available for them, unit holders said.
They said that there is machine work going on at every unit and anytime there can be an emergency situation but there is no facility available to tackle the situation.
“Many times labourers have got injured while working and lost a lot of blood in reaching the hospital and if such facilities would have been available here, such cases would have been treated on the spot,” the unit holders said.
An official of the Industrial Estate said that they have written to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Pulwama several times, who had assured that facilities will be made available there but so far nothing has been done.
When contacted, Manager Industrial Estate Lassipora, Rafiq Ahmad, said that the estate has already identified two kanals of land for the construction of a hospital there and very soon the work will be started.
Asked about solid waste management plants, Rafiq said that the common effluent treatment plant is functional in the industrial area and facilities for solid waste management facilities are being created.
He said the construction work of these facilities has got delayed due to paucity of funds.
