Tral: Medical catastrophe could be in offing as the ‘open air dumping’ of garbage Razaq-Shah, Pushaad area on outskirts of Tral sub division by the Municipal Committee could lead to Typhoid, Diarrhea and Jaundice in the area.
The areas around the open dumping site including Chewa, Haaina, Razaq shah, are the worst effected and as the summer sets it ‘problems will aggravate as foul smell would make it difficult for people to even venture out’.
There is an playing stadium, and an Industrial Training Institute near the site.
“Foul smell has been irking us for long time and various health related issues are prevalent. The concerned authorities have turned blind eye towards the matter despite many requests”, Ali Mohammad Kumar, a resident told INS.
Locals are blaming that Municipal Committee has failed to redress their problems.
The fear of the people that medical epidemic might be coming to the areas is seconded by the Community Health Officer, Nazir Ahmad, who believes the ‘open dumping site has become the breeding ground to the insects of various kind that would obviously effect the food and the water body near it’.
“Water borne and food borne disease could break out in the area including diarrhea, jaundice, skin disease etc. Not only diseases but the dumping site is a breeding place for dogs as well,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad is concerned that since the waste becomes toxic after a period of time it ‘does lead to dogs going mad and there might be cases when such animals begin attacking people’.
Adjoining areas are concerned that the playing stadium nearby might become the place where ‘dogs will attack the children who usually come to play there’.
Water body called ‘Watal ara’ runs near the site which is often used by the villagers to fetch water, wash clothes and people generally go to swim.
“The seepage (from the dumping site if not dumped inside earth using dumping protocol) could get its way to the nearby water body and through it, will reach to the whole areas too,” Ahmad confided.
Executive Officer, Municipal Committee Tral, Mohammad Ismail Mir, told INS that, ‘they dump 3-4 tractors of waste at the site since 2014’ of which some they have buried inside the trenches.
“We are going to make some trenches in Razaq-Shah Pushaad area to dump garbages inside them soon,” Mir said.
