Living close to dumping ground in Chandigarh — and breeding ground for diseases

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“I have been living here with my daughter-in-law since 1980. My husband and son are dead. They had some chest problem. Over the years I have developed breathing problems. The conditions have deteriorated in the past few years making life difficult here,” said Satpali, who is a labourer.

The National Green Tribunal has ordered the Jaypee group to immediately start operations on or before July 27. However, each moment of the day here is a battle. At present, the city’s 350 tonnes of garbage is being dumped at the landfill site with the residents being at the receiving end.

Suffering from skin allergies and breathing problems, there are many who have left this colony. “Two months ago, a family shifted from here. Their son was to get married and no family was ready to send their daughter at Dadumajra because of the landfill here. There was no option for them but to shift their base,” said Vikram, another resident.

With a stench looming above the colony, it has become tough for people here. “Being near the garbage dump round the clock has made us prone to diseases and breathing problems. But nobody is bothered about our condition,” said Manoj, another resident of the area.

Residents want the officers to visit the area once. “No officer can stay here for more than two minutes. We are spending our lives here. We have got tired of complaining to the authorities to find a solution as our pleas fell on deaf ears,” said Vidyuti, another resident.

A local resident thought of opening a sweets shop in the area but had to down the shutters permanently as flies did not let him operate. Over the years, residents have held protests and candlelight marches to highlight their plight. But little has changed.

President of Dalit Raksha Dal Narinder Chaudhary said, “Nobody wants to take unhygienic food. Despite several complaints, authorities are not listening to us. Our area councillor stays in Panchkula. He doesn’t even know what we all are going through.”

Mayor Arun Sood, however, claims that he is trying to find a permanent solution to the problem. “We won’t dump any garbage here now. We are in the process of starting waste-to-energy plant in which all of it will be converted into power,” said Sood.

About the conditions the residents are being forced to live in, the mayor said, “We did get one health camp organised for them. In fact, where there is garbage, there will be flies. Congress has given a cancer to this area and it will take some time to weed out the deadly disease permanently from here.”

Due to rain, the condition has worsened. Along with rainwater and the leachate from the dumping ground, dirty water enters houses of local residents.

A local resident, Vishnu, says that during monsoons, they have to face a tough time as water enters their houses. There were talks of constructing a retaining wall here but again it remained on paper only, he said.

“I visit the area three times a week. In fact, this problem has been there for years together and it will take some time to solve it. We are trying are level best to deal with the problem. For flies, we do spray some chemicals but to no avail,” said area councillor Sat Prakash Aggarwal.

Kamlesh, former councillor, blames the authorities for the current situation. “When the tender was given to Jaypee, it was mentioned that no garbage would be dumped here. But the reality was different. This problem was there when the plant wasn’t there. Around 250 tonnes of garbage was being processed only on the papers; actually, the entire 350 tonnes of garbage was being dumped without processing. Action should be taken against the officers,” she said.