Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 3: To ensure a sustainable Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrimage and achieve zero landfill goals, the Rural Development Department (RDD) and Rural Sanitation Department (RSD) are trying their best to ensure successful Waste Management during the Yatra.
In this regard, a significant quantity of wet and dry waste has been collected from different camp locations and enroute and same has been processed using appropriate scientific methods, during the first six days of the yatra.
Providing more details about their plan, the Director General, Rural Sanitation, J&K Anoo Malhotra, said, “These figures highlight the effectiveness of our waste management strategy, which emphasizes the separate collection and processing of wet and dry waste to minimize environmental impact. The collaborative efforts of our service providers, volunteers, and pilgrims have been instrumental in maintaining the sanctity and cleanliness of the yatra routes”.
Total 15 waste processing facilities have been established on both the axis. Eight processing facilities have been setup at Baltal axis starting from Neelgrath upto Upper Holy cave and 7 processing facilities setup at Pahalgam axis starting from Nunwan upto Panchtarni.
Total 8 (5 at Baltal Axis and 3 at Pahalgam axis) number of vehicles have been deployed for collection & transportation of waste at the base camp locations.
More than 600 workers and nearly 25 management/ supervisory staff have been deployed in both the axis combined to handle day to day waste collection, transportation, and processing.
From the 27th June till 2nd July, 2024 nearly 61.350 Tonnes of waste has been handled. Out of this, 17.25 Tonnes of wet waste (3.315 Tonnes on Pahalgam Axis and 14.205 Tonnes on Baltal Axis) has been put into the compost beds for composting of same.
Further, 22.23 Tonnes of dry waste (7.31 Tonnes on Pahalgam Axis and 14.920 Tonnes on Baltal Axis) has been processed after segregating them into various recyclable and non-recyclable streams such as PET, HDPE, LDPE, Cardboard, Multilayered Plastic, metals etc.
In addition, 21.60Tonnes of inert & process rejects have been accumulated till now which will be disposed off through sending it to RDF utilizing industry by the service provider engaged for same.
Meanwhile, Anoo Malhotra, conducted two day visit to Pahalgam axis to review and enhance the sanitation measures in place for pilgrims of Shri Amarnathji Yatra.
During her visit, the DG actively engaged with the pilgrims and distributed cloth bags to promote the use of eco-friendly alternatives and reduce plastic waste. She emphasized the importance of sustainable practices and urged upon the pilgrims to contribute towards maintaining pristine environment of the holy shrine.
She also inspected the water quality at Water ATMs installed at Nunwan and Chandanwari base camps. Ensuring availability of safe and clean drinking water to the pilgrims is a top priority of the IT administration, she added.
Furthermore, the DG visited several langars (community kitchens) to gather direct feedback from the langar operators regarding the sanitation services being made available for them. This interaction provided valuable insights into the challenges faced and the necessary improvements to further enhance the overall experience for the pilgrims.
DG was accompanied by ACP, Zaheer Abas, Nodal Officer, Pahalgam Axis, Ashfeen Ali, Nodal Officer Nunwan Base Camp, Mudasir Gul, Nodal Officer, Chandanwari, Mohammad Iqbal Daing and other officials.
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