Guwahati: Smoke emanating from a fire and pollutants from the Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) dumping ground located at East Boragaon’s Belortol area on NH-27 is posing threat to the ecology of the Deepor Beel, the only Ramsar site of the state, said the secretary of the Deepor Beel Suraksha Mancha, Pramod Kalita, on Tuesday.
The Deepor Beel, spread over 900 hectares, is a natural wetland and wildlife sanctuary situated adjacent to the Brahmaputra.
Kalita said besides the smoke and the ashes polluting the neighbourhood air, contaminated liquid flowing from the dumping site and stink have negatively impacted the biodiversity of the wetland, besides the lives of the residents living in and around the site.
The civic body used to dump waste at West Boragaon from 2006 till 2021. It relocated the dumping site to the present location, acting on the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order passed in 2019.
“The GMC started dumping the waste generated by the city households and business establishments, which weighs around 600 tonnes per day, at Belortol from August 2021. The present site is located near the Pamohi canal, which is linked to the Deepor Beel. The waste is contaminating the soil and subsequently the water flowing in the canal, affecting the aquatic life of the wetland. Moreover, the wetland overflows during the rainy season and mixes with the garbage disposed of at the dumping site and the contaminated liquid oozing from the area,” he alleged.
Kalita rued, “When the wetland was declared a Ramsar site in 2002, it was home to around 298 species of birds. However, only 155 species of birds were reported during the annual count held in January this year.”
Meanwhile, GMC commissioner Megha Nidhi Dahal termed the fire at the garbage dump a “natural phenomena” that broke out in the absence of rain. “Though we have not been able to trace the source of the fire, it’s a common occurrence. As the dump site is filled with combustible material like plastic among others, decomposition of the waste generate gases like methane that is highly inflammable,” he stated, adding that “We spray stench-masking chemicals to mitigate the foul smell that emits from the garbage.”
Replying to the organisation’s allegation of the dump site affecting the ecosystem of the wetland, Dahal said the present location of the dump site does not fall under the eco-sensitive zone. “Also, the civic body has taken all measures to prevent the wetland from becoming contaminated. High flood-level embarkments have been built around the Belortol dump site. So, there is no possibility of the waste flowing into the Pamohi canal,” he said.
The Deepor Beel, spread over 900 hectares, is a natural wetland and wildlife sanctuary situated adjacent to the Brahmaputra.
Kalita said besides the smoke and the ashes polluting the neighbourhood air, contaminated liquid flowing from the dumping site and stink have negatively impacted the biodiversity of the wetland, besides the lives of the residents living in and around the site.
The civic body used to dump waste at West Boragaon from 2006 till 2021. It relocated the dumping site to the present location, acting on the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order passed in 2019.
“The GMC started dumping the waste generated by the city households and business establishments, which weighs around 600 tonnes per day, at Belortol from August 2021. The present site is located near the Pamohi canal, which is linked to the Deepor Beel. The waste is contaminating the soil and subsequently the water flowing in the canal, affecting the aquatic life of the wetland. Moreover, the wetland overflows during the rainy season and mixes with the garbage disposed of at the dumping site and the contaminated liquid oozing from the area,” he alleged.
Kalita rued, “When the wetland was declared a Ramsar site in 2002, it was home to around 298 species of birds. However, only 155 species of birds were reported during the annual count held in January this year.”
Meanwhile, GMC commissioner Megha Nidhi Dahal termed the fire at the garbage dump a “natural phenomena” that broke out in the absence of rain. “Though we have not been able to trace the source of the fire, it’s a common occurrence. As the dump site is filled with combustible material like plastic among others, decomposition of the waste generate gases like methane that is highly inflammable,” he stated, adding that “We spray stench-masking chemicals to mitigate the foul smell that emits from the garbage.”
Replying to the organisation’s allegation of the dump site affecting the ecosystem of the wetland, Dahal said the present location of the dump site does not fall under the eco-sensitive zone. “Also, the civic body has taken all measures to prevent the wetland from becoming contaminated. High flood-level embarkments have been built around the Belortol dump site. So, there is no possibility of the waste flowing into the Pamohi canal,” he said.