Narmadapuram's Gwaltoli gas chamber, garbage making people's lives miserable

The city of Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, saw a name change to Narmadapuram. However, the state of filth has not changed, it is spread out evenly across in the city. One particular area bares the consequences of the abysmal waste management system of the city. The heap of burning garbage on the trenching ground in Idgah, Gwaltoli narrates a sad story. Garbage is continuously burning, and the emanating smoke reaches nearby homes. Here, people are forced to live in a gas chamber which is making them sick. The group young children-- ragpickers-- can be seen collecting plastic from this burning garbage, and cows can be seen probing for food in this garbage heap. These cows, revered as idols in Hinduism, are forced to eat plastic in this holy city.

40 tonnes of garbage is collected every day in Gwalatoli of Narmadapuram. Here, the waste generated from 33 wards is thrown away every day by municipal vehicles with the song of cleanliness playing in the background. The city gets cleaned, but the people of Gwaltoli are paying the price.

Sugan Bai, 65, has been living in Gwaltoli for many years, she says

“We are very troubled by this garbage, this garbage keeps burning all the time and its smoke comes into our houses. We complained to the Municipality, MLA, and Collector, but everyone just said “Hatadenge Amma, Hatadenge Amma”. Why are they making our colony dirty, what is our fault? Our children are falling ill, there is no one to listen to us.”

People getting sick from garbage smoke

30-year-old Farid Qadri says

“When we complain about this garbage, a case is registered against us... nothing is visible here in the morning due to smoke. Here small children are suffering from skin infections, someone in every house is suffering from respiratory disease, but no one even comes here to see them. Many media people came here but the administration silenced them too. For many years, assurances have been given to remove garbage from here but nothing happens.”

Hina, another resident of Gwaltoli, says,

“Garbage carts pass here all the time, garbage keeps falling from them, which remains lying in our streets. If you say something to them, they start fighting. Injustice is being done to us. Are we not human beings, don’t we even have the right to clean air?”

NGT's order has not been followed yet

As per the orders of the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal, Hoshangabad district has to prepare its District Environment Plan. For this, orders have been issued to the Collector of every district. Under this plan, a waste processing unit is to be established for the disposal of solid waste. Hoshangabad administration was to complete this work by the end of the year 2023. However, till now the waste processing unit has not started here, on the other hand, the garbage heap in the Gwaltoli dump is getting higher.

Farid Qadri says,

“The water here is also getting polluted due to the garbage, the smoke coming out of the garbage reaches directly into the water tank present here. Yellow water comes from the pipeline given to every house under Amrit Yojana. People drink borewell water. If we drink water given by the government, we will fall ill.”

The situation of garbage disposal in Gwaltoli is nothing short of hell. Every kind of garbage is being thrown here, from dead animals to biomedical waste. Standing in this smoke for 5 minutes can make you feel suffocated. Now, imagine that hundreds of families have to live here 24 hours 365 days.

Farid Qadri says,

“A person builds a home once in his life, our everything is here. Even if one wants to sell the house, no one wants to come and live in this garbage, no one wants to buy all the plots lying vacant here. Now I don't understand where to go or what to do."

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