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Dept buys more time as agitators agree to one more meeting
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Meeting with Municipal Affairs Parl Secy today at 11:00 am
Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 11
Rutted roads, erratic power supply, backdoor appointments, women’s reservation and more recently broken bridges have been some of the attention-grabbing issues in Nagaland. Amidst the din, the issue of waste management has reared its head, which could well imply garbage piling in the city limits of Dimapur if not addressed with priority.
Under the banner of right to a healthy life and survival, residents of Sunrise colony took to the streets today preventing municipal sanitation trucks from dumping garbage at the Dimapur Municipal Council’s waste disposal site at Burma Camp. As declared earlier by the Sunrise Colony Council, the residents reiterated the demand for immediate relocation of the DMC garbage dumping site.
The agitated residents, who live in close vicinity to the open fly-infested garbage dumping site, blocked the road stranding some 20 sanitation trucks while setting off a daylong standoff with the administration.
Heated exchanges were witnessed between the agitators and members of the Naga Council Dimapur and gaonburas union, who were at the scene to mediate as armed police personnel looked on.
Buying for time, the DMC was able to broker a temporary deal for one more day to come to an understanding. The agitators demanded the presence of the Parliamentary Secretary incharge of Municipal Affairs, which was acceded to.
The written assurance from the DMC included, as demanded by the agitators, the Parliamentary Secretary incharge physically inspecting the garbage dumping site and a meeting later with the agitators at the Circuit House on August 12 at 11:00 am.
The trucks were let through only at around 3:00 pm though uncertainty prevailed as regards the dumping of garbage at the site on August 12. It was later decided in the evening that sanitation trucks will be allowed on August 12 pending the meeting with the Parliamentary Secretary.
As allegations of “vested interests” flew both ways, the Sunrise Colony Council (SCC) accused the state government of apathy and ignorance of statutory rules with regard to urban waste management. A lack of trust (in the government) was also pointed out, with the SCC reiterating that the government has time and again went back on its promises with the last straw being the annulment of the assurance to relocate to a new site.
The SCC secretary said that the government affected the cancellation earlier in June this year to relocate despite a standing assurance to relocate. “We were also not given prior information of the proposal to set up a waste management plant at the existing site,” the secretary said.
The secretary said that the Joint Council Forum, of which SCC was a member before it parted ways, was called for a meeting at Hotel Acacia in Dimapur in June 2016. “Assuming it was a meeting, we attended only to be told that it was actually for inaugurating the proposed sewage plant… we walked out in protest.”
Citing “differences in opinion,” the secretary said that it parted ways with the JCF in June 2017. The JCF initially comprised of United North Block A, United North Block B, Naga colony and Sunrise colony, which come under Burma Camp Ward 3.
DMC downplays health concerns
The DMC meanwhile maintained that setting up a scientific waste management plant remained the only option after efforts to acquire land for a new garbage disposal site failed. As per the DMC, opposition from villagers resulted in the department shelving the proposal to relocate atleast twice. The targeted sites were in the outskirts of Dimapur.
Downplaying health concerns, the DMC maintained that the proposed waste plant will be environment friendly and would pose no health hazard as it will be run by a private entity (in PPP mode) with expertise in the field, while adding that other localities in the vicinity have realised the plant’s utility.
A portion of the existing DMC garbage site measuring 29 bighas in area was acquired in 1996. As municipal waste generation increased, an additional 27 bighas was acquired in 2014 adjacent to it. At present Dimapur municipal area is approximated to produce over a hundred metric tonnes of solid waste daily.
Despite the increase in waste generation, the government has failed to give priority to this issue; while effort in this direction have failed to cross the proposal stage.
