Mukesh Singh
Jammu, May 29:
Jammu city has two main collection dumping sites for waste, one at Parade Ground and another at Circular Road. Such is the state of parade dumping site that permanent stagnant water is there throughout the day with stray dogs scavenging on the waste that one cannot stand there even for two minutes and this road also creates a traffic bottleneck on busiest road of the city. Many residents of different areas which includes Janipur, Reahri Colony, Subash Nagar, Toph, Sarwal complained regarding garbage dumps on road sides and approached the JMC officials many times in the recent past but they showed their inability in this regard. Not only garbage dumps, Most of the drinking water coolers installed by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) at various locations in the city have not been cleaned for months together and people are forced to drink water from them. Notwithstanding the civic body’s claims that water coolers are being routinely maintained, the fact is that many of them are not even functional. “A large number of water coolers dispense unclean water thus defeating the very purpose for which these were meant for,” said Ram Parshad, a local resident. Even after repeated campaigns launched by the JMC under the Swach Bharat Abhiyan, the city portrays a pathetic picture as failure of the municipal bodies and poor civic sense among residents has turned the city into a huge garbage dump. The hype and photo sessions during the campaigns launched by JMC have failed to make an impact on ground. It is pertinent to mention here that, JMC officials on the condition of anonymity stated that Jammuites care little about segregation at the disposal stage so that the solid waste is even thrown into the water drains itself, a practice that only clogs and drains but also makes the problem of waste handling all more complicating.
