Bhopal: Adampur landfill sickens wildlife, forces migratory birds to relocate

• The garbage dump site of Adampur Cantonment has become a cause of trouble for wild animals! Wild animals are forced to migrate from Samardha Circle.
• This Khanti has been operated without the permission of the Environment Department since 2018. And, 900 metric tons of garbage is collected here every day.
• When the wind blows in the direction of the forest, the smell of this garbage reaches Prempura village, 23.8 kilometres away. The city within a radius of 6.5 kilometres is also in bad shape due to bad smell.

Bhopal city's garbage has been collected in the Adampur Cantonment Landfill Site (Kachra Khanti) since 2018. In April 2023, the National Green Tribunal said that it is being operated in an illegal and unauthorised manner without the permission of the Environment Department. Further, the Municipal Corporation's Green Resource Solid Waste Management Pvt. Ltd. company was flouting environmental regulations by keeping and disposing of the waste here.

This khanti, built on 42 acres, neither has high walls nor has the garbage has been kept covered. Huge mountains of thousands of metric tons of garbage have been erected here merely with the help of wire fencing. Far from eliminating the old waste, mountains of new waste are also being created here. Every day 900 metric tons of garbage is coming here. This garbage is proving harmful to wild animals also. The stench (polluted air) is spreading within a radius of 24 kilometres with the flow of air. Wild animals are becoming victims of this polluted air and are suffering from many diseases. Many wild animals have changed their habitat. According to villagers, the current population of wild animals in this area is significantly lower compared to three and a half years ago.

Attacking each other in anger

Ashvi Rajput, the forest guard of Samardha forest range, told the ground report that,

“Khanti is causing a lot of trouble as the stench reaches the rest house, 13 kilometres away. Due to this, wild animals are getting angry and attacking other animals and many animals are falling ill and dying due to polluted air. There are reports of deaths of animals every day.”

He says, “Wild animals go to Ghodapachad Dam, about 3 to 4 kilometres away from Khanti, to quench their thirst, but due to Khanti, the number of dogs in the area has increased and they are attacking wild animals like deer, chital, sambar etc. Are attacking.”

Inadequate garbage disposal identified, Improvement work started

According to environmentalist Subhash C. Pandey, the Madhya Pradesh Environment Department has said that non-scientific disposal of waste, frequent fires in Khanti, and poisonous gases like furan dioxin, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide released from the fire are causing harm to humans and wildlife.

The people complained, and the story was reported by media as well.

Then, Principal Secretary Environment Department, Aniruddha Mukherjee got the matter investigated scientifically. Now improvement work is being done, which is inadequate. About four thousand saplings have also been planted on 14 acres of land adjacent to Khanti. These include species of Neem, Amla, Peepal, Jamun, Satparni, Semal, Guava etc.

Increase in wild boar population

Prempura village is 23.8 km away from Adampur Cantonment. According to a farmer here, animals are no longer visible in the forests and fields like before, while the number of wild boars is increasing. Explaining the reason for this, retired forest officer RK Dixit says,

“Wild pigs do not hunt but prefer to eat the flesh of wild animals. Wild pigs eat wounded, sick, dead and prey left by tigers and leopards.”

Cattle's skin bursting from landfill leachate

Toxic and harmful leachates are released when Khanti's waste comes in contact with water and air. Leached is a mixture of harmful chemicals like microplastic, lead, iron, nickel, cadmion, zinc, magnesium, mercury, arsenic, cobalt, phenol and many pesticides, which is brownish black in colour. All these chemicals are carcinogenic. When mixed with soil, poison vegetables and crops and pollute them when mixed with groundwater or water of rivers and ponds. Environmental activist Rashid Noor Khan explains that,

“The leachate has reached the hand pumps and borewells of Adampur and Haripura villages. Even the water here is not potable. He said that even the liner (plastic sheet) brought from Mumbai has not been laid to prevent water leakage.”

“The lives of Haripura village show that earlier the cattle were grazed in the open fields around the site, but now the cattle are grazed away from the village.”

They said that,

“Veterinarians have attributed the skin cracking of cattle to contaminated water.”

Wild animals are changing their habitat, migratory birds are not coming

The accumulation of garbage in Adampur has forced wildlife to migrate. Previously, the Samardha region was home to a significant population of wild animals such as peacocks, deer, chital, and sambar. However, these animals have now started to roam in the forests of Raisen due to the adverse conditions in Adampur. Additionally, the presence of an unpleasant odour has led migratory birds to seek alternative habitats. Wildlife Warden Asif Hasan explains,

“There is Ramgarh hill near Khanti, there is more than 50 acres of dense forest here. Due to the Ramgarh Shaktipeeth and Ajnar rivers, a large number of migratory birds used to come here, but due to the dirt and smell of Khanti, the number of birds decreased last year and this year migratory birds did not come at all. Earlier the water of Ajnar river was so clean that people used to drink it, now its colour has changed.”

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