Guwahati: Garbage crisis grips city, transfer stations turn into urban nightmares

Staff reporter

Guwahati: The streets of Guwahati are grappling with an escalating garbage crisis, as waste transfer stations—initially introduced as a measure for efficient waste management—have turned into overflowing hubs of filth, stench, and civic failure. With heaps of garbage spilling out of designated sites and onto public roads, neighbourhoods such as Beltola, Hatigaon, and Beltola Tinali are bearing the brunt of the mess. Residents are voicing growing frustration over the Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) failure to maintain these facilities and prevent them from becoming permanent dumping grounds.

Originally intended to streamline garbage collection before transferring it to the main dumping site at Belortol, these transfer stations have now become symbols of administrative neglect. The situation has made daily life increasingly difficult for locals. “The place reeks of garbage. Most of the road remains occupied and it gets difficult to pass by. At night it is more dangerous,” said a daily commuter from Beltola, summing up the challenges faced by thousands. Roads that were once merely congested are now treacherous to navigate, especially after dark, due to poor lighting and unhygienic conditions.

Public health experts and urban planners are now warning of an impending health crisis. The overflow of garbage has created ideal conditions for the breeding of disease-carrying insects and rodents, particularly during the ongoing monsoon season. Hospitals across the city have reported a noticeable spike in cases of diarrhoea, respiratory infections, and skin diseases—all of which are linked to poor sanitation. “Accumulated garbage becomes breeding grounds for flies, mosquitoes, and rodents. In monsoon, there is a high risk of vector-borne diseases like dengue and leptospirosis,” a local physician warned.

The environmental consequences are no less serious. With no proper flooring or fencing in place at many transfer stations, leachate from the waste is seeping into the city’s drainage systems, polluting soil and nearby water bodies. This has increased the risk of urban flooding and environmental degradation—issues that Guwahati, a rapidly growing urban centre, can ill afford to ignore.

Amid this crisis, sanitation workers continue to work under hazardous conditions. Many of these workers are employed through NGOs on a contractual basis, and unlike GMC’s permanent staff, they are not provided with essential protective equipment such as gloves, boots, or even raincoats. “We are barely provided with any gears. The monsoon is near and we don’t even have raincoats. We still work,” said one worker, speaking anonymously. This glaring disparity has drawn criticism from civil society groups, who accuse the administration of institutional apathy toward its most vulnerable frontline workers.

As public anger mounts, citizens, experts, and social organizations are calling for immediate action. Their demands include a swift clean-up of overflowing transfer stations, proper fencing and lighting at these sites, equitable distribution of protective gear for all sanitation workers, infrastructure upgrades to prevent waste seepage, and a long-term, decentralized waste management strategy. Without such interventions, they warn, the city’s garbage crisis could spiral into a full-scale public health and environmental emergency.

Also Read: Guwahati: Overflowing Garbage Bins Spark Health Concerns

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