Jammu railway station: A huge garbage dump

Jammu railway station: A huge garbage dump Nitesh Sangral Jammu,July 21: A small portion of ground in front Railway Station is being used as a garbage dump, giving an ugly look to the face of Jammu city, visited by lakhs of pilgrims and tourists every year. Surprisingly the open area is on backside of SSP Railways office near the Taxi stand and the dump is a breeding ground for various diseases as shopkeepers and security forces deployed in the area dispose off their waste at the site. With lack of coordination between Jammu Development Authority (JDA), Railway authorities and Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), the area has become a safe haven for the stray dogs, posing threat to people moving in the area every day. Entire area near the Taxi stand is full of heaps of garbage and sometime it becomes difficult for the passengers to walk through as the foul smell just does not allow them to stay for long. Jammu generates nearly 350 tonnes of garbage daily and it is expected that the there will be tremendous increase in the solid waste generation in next decade. “As there is shortage of manpower and lack of coordination within the JMC and JDA, it seems there will be no immediate respite from the menace of garbage in the area”, said a regular visitor to the area. “While the authorities claim that they are working on a proposal to make station a model railway station but looking at the condition of the site, it seems claims are just pure rhetoric”, said a local resident, Ambika Sharma. While government has set pilgrim tourism as its main attraction for the state and is projecting the city as the pilgrim town, but most of the people often go back with dirty images on their mind. “Its high time that authorities take care of sanitation as the station is main entrance to the city. Even thousands of foreign visitors also enter the state”, said a local resident Satnam Singh. Many of the people say that shopkeepers are major contributors of the garbage as some of them lack civic sense and the railway authorities are also to be blamed for paying only lip service and not doing enough to maintain the cleanliness of the station premises.