Sweta Daga

PARI Desk

Editors

Shaoni Sarkar

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Himachal
Pradesh is known for snow-capped mountains. But in the town of Palampur in
Kangra district, there is a different mountain growing – one of waste. 



A
major tourist destination, the state saw an inflow of 172 lakh people in 2019,
up from 149 lakh in 2011, says this<a href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/tourism-environmental-assessment-Himalayan-region-report-NGT-June2022.pdf"> </a><a href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/tourism-environmental-assessment-Himalayan-region-report-NGT-June2022.pdf">report</a>
by the National Green Tribunal. Tourism plays an important part in the economy
here and Kangra district alone has almost 1,000 hotels and homestays. The crush
of tourists is a major factor in the growing piles of waste now spilling onto
pristine land and river banks, irreparably damaging the fragile ecosystem of
this hill town. 



“This was an open ground and children used to play here,”
reminisces 72-year-old Galora Ram who lives a few minutes away from the
landfill location.



“This
whole area used to be green and full of trees,” says Shishu Bhardwaj (name
changed). He is pointing to the sprawling dumpsite visible from his tea shop.
“They [the municipality] cut trees down to make more space as more and more
waste started coming here. “It smells! And there are so many flies,” adds the
32-year-old. 



His
shop is situated on land next to the Palampur garbage dump that is sprawled
across an estimated five hectares of land. Cloth waste, plastic bags, broken
toys, discarded clothes and household items, kitchen waste, industrial waste,
hazardous medical waste and more lie in heaps; despite the rain, flies swarm
around incessantly.



When Shishu first set up shop in 2019, there was
a recycling plant in the area where waste from three panchayats used to get
sorted and recycled. When the pandemic hit and after, all the waste from all
wards have been coming to the dumpsite and only manual labour is being used for
sorting.

Recently,
the Municipal Commissioner has installed new waste sorting machines and has
claimed that recycling will begin again.



Locals point out that
the explosion of waste in the region has not been addressed by the local
government and it has not planned for a scientific landfill to keep pace with
development. The current dumpsite lies dangerously close to the Neugal River
that joins the Beas, an important source of potable water in the region and
further downstream. 



Although the small hill town, at an
altitude of between 1,000 to 1500 metres above MSL, Palampur did not get much
of the 720 mm of
torrential rain experienced by Himachal Pradesh in the recent month of August
2023, many worry that it is only a matter of time. 

“Such intense rains can increase the
amount of contamination from the waste into the river and soil,” points out
Fatema Chappalwala. A member of Kangra Citizens Rights Forum, she moved here
from Mumbai and now lives in the village of Kandbari, a small hamlet 12 kms
away. Fatema and her husband Mohammed have worked with local citizens on the
issue of the dumpsite for many years. 

“All the dirt and garbage is dumped here. And
about two to three years ago they started dumping more garbage,” says Galora Ram,
a resident of Uwarna, a hamlet roughly 350 metres from the dumpsite. “We are
getting sick. The children vomit from the smell,” he says. The 72-year-old says
that people have been getting sick ever since the dumpsite was expanded.
“Children have changed schools because they don’t want to cross the dumpsite to
get to the school as this is the only path to get to school.”

Big
disasters get more attention but it is the everyday disasters that we have
normalised – the waste lying on the side of the river, points out Manshi Asher. A researcher with
local environmental organisation Himdhara, says, “if you have waste management facilities close to the
rivers then it&#39;s only going to add to the muck in the river contaminating the
health of the river.” 

“In a predominantly rural mountain region, urban waste
invariably ends up encroaching on riverbeds, forests and grazing lands,” she
adds. The contaminated and mixed waste leaches into the soil and gets into the
water supply, with most people getting their drinking water from groundwater.
The water is also used for crops downstream right up to Punjab. 



A 2021 report by the Central Pollution Control Board found
that Himachal Pradesh has 57 dumping sites, but not one sanitary landfill. As
opposed to a dumpsite, a sanitary landfill is designed with a top cover and has
a liner and leachate collection system to prevent groundwater contamination,
among other safeguards. It should also come with a closure and post-closure
plan. The same report also ranks the state 18th out of 35 in their assessment
of waste management. In
October 2020, 14 panchayats were brought together under a new Palampur Municipal
Corporation (MC) consisting of 15 wards.
Mohammed Chappalwala is a member of the Kangra Citizens Rights Forum. He says,
“before Palampur became an MC, most of the panchayats were taking care of their
own waste, but since we became an MC, there has been a huge spike in waste and
it is all going to one location – even the hospital waste.”

According
to the 2016 Solid Waste Management handbook under the Ministry of Urban
Development, to have a landfill site, an urban local body or ULB must adhere to
the following guidelines: “Landfill sites shall be set up as per the guidelines
of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India and Central Pollution
Control Board. The landfill site shall be 100 metres away from the river, 200
metres from a pond, 200 metres from Highways, Habitations, Public Parks and
water supply wells…”

Last
year, the local citizens motivated us to join their call to action and asked
for help, so we decided to raise an RTI (Right to Information). According to
Mohammed, the Commissioner’s office received the RTI on March 14, 2023 and
replied on April 19, but there were no real answers. “There were blanks next to
many of our questions,” he continues. 

Nobody
knows how much waste is being generated. “Every time I come back to check, the
dumpsite keeps getting bigger and now it&#39;s right against the Neugal river and
waste is going in,” says Mohammed. 

Recently
seven waste sorting machines have been installed in the dumpsite, and according
to local journalist Ravinder Sood, five are operational, including a shredder
being used to reduce dry waste.

However,
Bhardwaj, who has observed the changes from his tea shop says, “The machines
have come, but because of the rains, none of them are working, and things have
stayed the same. The smell, the impact is still the same as it was.” And his
neighbour Ram adds, “We want them to put the dumpsite somewhere else to help
our lives, our children’s lives.”

In HP: Palampur has gone to waste

کچرے کے پہاڑ میں تبدیل ہوتا ہماچل کا پالم پور شہر

హిమాచల్ ప్రదేశ్‌లో చెత్తకుప్పగా మారిపోతోన్న పాలమ్‌పుర్

குப்பையாகிப் போன பலம்பூர்

ਪਾਲਮਪੁਰ ਦਾ ਕੂੜੇ ਦੇ ਢੇਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਤਬਦੀਲ ਹੋਣਾ

ହିମାଚଳ ପ୍ରଦେଶ ପାଲମପୁରରେ ବଢ଼ୁଛି ଆବର୍ଜନାର ପାହାଡ଼

ഹിമാചൽ പ്രദേശിൽ: പാലം‌പുർ മലിനമാകുന്നു

ಹಿಮಾಚಲ ಪ್ರದೇಶ: ಕಸದ ತೊಟ್ಟಿಯಂತಾಗಿರುವ ಪಾಲಂಪುರ್‌

કચરાના ઢગ તળે કચડાતું હિમાચલ પ્રદેશનું પાલમપુર

पालमपुर मं पहाड़ छूवत कचरा

पालमपुर: पहाड़ के देस में कचरा के पहाड़

বেলাগাম বর্জ্য সমস্যায় নাজেহাল পালমপুরের পার্বত্য জীবন

শুকুলা পাহাৰৰ দাঁতিত এতিয়া পাহাৰসম আৱৰ্জনা

कचरे के ढेर में तब्दील होता पालमपुर

Palampur

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In HP: Palampur has gone to waste

Tourism is booming in this small hill town in Kangra district, and garbage disposal is not keeping pace. Local citizens are protesting about the impact of this mountain of putrefying waste on their daily lives

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