Gone are the days when cities, towns, and villages had ample spaces to mange the waste produced at household level. Now all those spaces are gone, and on top of it the household consumption has increased manifold. Not just this, the menace of non-biodegradable waste has taken up unmanageable proportions. The challenge, for a city like Srinagar, is to manage the mountains of waste produced on a daily basis, without causing any harm to those who live near the dumping sites. Now the main dumping site in this city is Achin. The nearby residents, and even those living relatively away from this dumping site, have always been protesting against the authorities. The reason is that the bad smell from the site fills the whole atmosphere, particularly in the months of summers. We have even had these people come on to the roads forcing the authorities to calm them down and make promises to manage the site efficiently.
People have also been asking for shifting this site as it is close to residential areas of the city. In the past we have seen different people coming up with ideas to manage garbage in ways that caused least trouble, and also address the issues of pollution. But nothing has come to fruition. Now that the concerned officials have decided to facelift this site, there are certain things that need to be reminded to the authorities on this occasion. One, it is extremely important to ensure that no foul smell fills the atmosphere close to the site. Two, the garbage management is done on the basis of scientific principles using the latest equipment. Three, the most important thing is to reduce the amount of garbage at the points of production. There is a need to sensitise people at household level to segregate wet waste from the dry. This needs to be incentivised, as the wet garbage is a rich source of organic manure that can be put to good use. If wet waste is managed at household level, most of the problem stands solved.