Bandipora, Apr 14 (KNO): Arin Nallah which is a source of drinking water and habitat of freshwater trout is slowly turning into a garbage dumping site with tons of garbage dumped on its banks by locals.
Residents living in the vicinity find it convenient to dump their waste in the stream in absence of a proper Solid Waste Management in the district.
The garbage has turned the fresh water stream into a dust bin and choked not only the stream but has become a major pollutant of Wular Lake, they added.
“Apart from dumping waste, garlands, plastic bottles, obsolete items are dumped in the stream while most of the garbage gets submerged, plastic bottles and other waste keeps floating and block the flow of water at a few places,” a local Bashir Ahmad told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
Saleem Ahmad, another local resident, said that the authorities are yet to take precautionary steps. “No appropriate steps have been initiated to clean water sources, check the overflow of sewage, contamination of water channels, and dumping of garbage in this Nallah,” he said.
"We used to have water of this Nallah for drinking purposes, but today it's highly polluted,” Mushtaq Ahmad, a local said, adding that concrete measures from the administration could save the water body from further deterioration.
The locals blamed authorities for having no proper waste management policy in their locality. However, the officials assured of the immediate action of cleaning the site soon—(KNO)