Unable to find dustbin in Srinagar, infuriated visitor takes to Twitter

The MC is improving its efforts day by day. We are trying our level best to bring a scientific waste disposal mechanism. ISHTIYAQ AHMAD, Srinagar MC chief sanitation officer

SRINAGAR: Srinagar, a city of over 1.2 million people, has negligible number of dustbins on roads, the fact that was driven home by a visitor with a scathing remark on a social media platform triggering a reaction by the city mayor.

“Carried a rotten orange in my bag for 10km, five of which I walked. I saw more CRPF vans than dustbins,” wrote Kanika Gupta, a freelance journalist, on Twitter.

Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu acknowledged the problem and said they were in the process of installing roadside bins. “Express my sincere regret and want to personally assure you that we are in the process of ensuring that Srinagar has adequate public toilets and roadside wastebins. We will try to expedite the process. I am sorry for the experience you had to endure,” he said.

The scarcity of dustbins in Srinagar is a perpetual problem.

In 2016, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), country’s top environmental court, had made some serious remarks on the lack of dustbins in Srinagar.

“Why don’t you have dustbins and waste collection provisions?… We are shocked to see that there is no dustbin in the entire Srinagar area,” a bench of the NGT had said.

“There are stray dogs and municipal waste lying everywhere,” it had said while lambasting the then administration.

“Since then, nothing much has changed. It is the harsh reality that we still don’t have the basic infrastructure like a dustbin on the road,” said Athar Parvaiz, a prominent environmental journalist of Kashmir.

He said the municipal authorities had to bring into force waste management rules which were implemented in 2016 across the country.

“There are clear guidelines on how the waste has to be managed, but in our city it has not happened,” he said.

MC’s chief sanitation officer Ishtiyaq Ahmad said the corporation is improving its efforts. “We are trying our best to provide a scientific waste disposal mechanism. Roadside dustbins will soon be available,” he said.