Kathajodi rover bed turns Cuttack Municipal Corporation's garbage disposal point

CUTTACK: Cocking a snook at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) continues to pollute the river bed of Kathajodi by dumping and burning heaps of garbage on a daily basis.

Garbage collected from Wards 56, 57, 58 and 59 of CMC are being dumped and burned on Kathajodi river bed exposing the gross negligence and irregularities on the part of the civic body authorities towards implementation of solid waste management rules. At Ward 56, CMC sanitary workers burn the waste on the river bed near Badhei Sahi during early hours to evade public notice.

With CMC authorities turning a blind eye towards it, the practice has been leading to pollution of the river and air, said environmentalists expressing concern over the blatant violation. "Every morning, we wake up feeling uneasy due to the hazardous smoke. We do not come across the sanitary inspectors in our ward to lodge complaints," alleged a resident of Badhei Sahi.

The NGT in 2019 had asked the Cuttack administration and CMC to implement solid waste management rules strictly to keep Kathajodi free from pollution.

As per the Solid Waste Management laws, waste generated from the 59 wards of CMC should be collected and segregated. While the solid waste should be disposed of through material recovery facilities, liquid waste is to be, disposed of at micro composting centres.

Though the CMC had sensitised its sanitary workers for proper segregation and disposal of waste in and around the Millennium City, the illegal disposal continues unabated with no one to supervise. A senior official of CMC sanitation wing said steps would be taken to curb the practice.