Garbage dumped near Gomti,pollution board writes to LMC

“The Board has stated that because of illegal dumping of municipal waste along the river,the leachate can flow from the garbage,thereby polluting the river,” said a senior government official.

“They have been instructed to dispose the municipal solid waste in a scientific manner,” added the official.

Over several feet of garbage can be seen along the Hardoi road near the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) campus. The garbage litter can also be seen leading up to the Gomti river. The civic body disposes around 1,200 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated in the city on a daily basis. With no scientifically developed garbage disposal site,the civic body has been dumping the garbage at the site for nearly a year now.

The Corporation,however,has a different explanation on the issue. “We do not have a scientific landfill site to dump the garbage. So,we have to dump the garbage somewhere,” said A C Sinha,Additional Municipal Commissioner of LMC.

“We decided to dump it in this area as we plan to utilise the solid waste in the process of road widening that is presently taking place there,” added Sinha.

According to him,the garbage is being dumped in such a manner that it does not flow into the river.

Swami Nath,Chief Environmental Officer (CEO) of UPPCB said: “Any solid waste being dumped in the catchment area of the river can be hazardous. When it rains,the leachate from the waste will flow into the river and pollute it.”

Earlier,the civic body was dumping 1,200 tonnes of garbage daily on the Gomti bank near Gomti river in Gandhi Setu area.

It was only after the directions of Allahabad High Court that the civic body stopped dumping garbage there.

Currently,a 36-hectare landfill site at Dasehri village with the capacity to treat around 1,300 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily has been proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).