Like a bad smell that lingers for a long time, the subject of waste disposal (or lack thereof) continued to be debated in the Assembly today, with MLAs unhappy with the responses of Urban Affairs Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar.
Yesterday opposition legislator for Mawsynram, Himalaya Shangpliang, referred to photos and news clips about the piling up of garbage in Jowai because the town has no designated landfill. Dhar had promised that the waste would be removed this morning but the assurance remained unfulfilled.
“Till this morning the garbage is still lying where it was yesterday. Now what action has the minister taken when he had assured the House that the garbage will be moved?” Shangpliang asked, to which Dhar meekly promised that it would be carried away by today evening.
That response prompted laughter in the Assembly and gave the opposition MLA a chance to mock the government. “The minister should be prepared with the same answer tomorrow again.”
Meanwhile, Mookaiaw MLA Nujorki Sungoh wondered how the government could yesterday claim that it only moves ahead with projects when it has the people fully on board when the Jowai Municipal Board had dumped 800 trucks worth of garbage at a temporary site in Thadmusem despite howls of protests.
Dhar clarified that the dumping of waste in that area has been stopped after several protests.
East Shillong MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh, until this session in the opposition, piped up in support of her new political friend in Dhar by saying that it is unfair to expect the minister alone to solve the issue when it requires all MLAs to try and convince the public to accept landfills near their homes.
Once a permanent place for waste disposal is settled on, the department will undertake ‘scientific waste processing’, Dhar said, and the garbage will be converted into useful products. It would not thus be correct, he said, to call it a dumping ground.
Umroi MLA George Lyngdoh, of the opposition, quickly picked up on this and called for clarity. “Sometimes we hear the terms sanitary landfill, dumping ground, scientific waste management system – these are three different ways of managing waste. Has the department decided what kind of system it is bringing?”
Dhar reiterated that any new site will feature a scientific waste processing plant.
