Wake up, GMC

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement in Indore on Saturday that all waste municipal waste dumping sites across the country will be converted into green zones in the next two to three years, should serve as a wake-up call to all civic bodies in Assam in general, and the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) in particular. Modi made this announcement while digitally inaugurating Asia's largest Bio-CNG plant in Madhya Pradesh's financial capital. According to the Prime Minister, several acres of land is being used for dumping wastes in almost every city in the country. While many dumping sites have been converted into green zones through modern technology, Guwahati is one major city that is yet to think green and act green. The historic city of Guwahati is set amid hills and wetlands and has at least two wildlife sanctuaries and a Ramsar Site cum Important Bird Area (IBA) within its jurisdiction. Yet, if a list of the greenest cities of the country is prepared, the Assam capital will have to struggle to find a spot in the list of the top ten green cities of India. While the destruction of green cover – including hills and wetlands – has been the norm in Guwahati, there has been very little effort by the civic authorities to protect them. The citizens of Guwahati have been tired of hearing about producing power and fertilizer from municipal waste for several decades. The grossly unscientific dumping ground at Boragaon has already caused irreversible damage to the Deepor Beel, whose existence and protection is very important for the environmental health of the premier city. The GMC is yet to finalize a place where it can establish a scientifically managed dumping ground. Travelling across the state, one will find that there is a dumping ground at the entrance of almost every town. This speaks volumes about the understanding of municipal administration in the state in general and of the municipal board of the respective towns. It is for the Guwahati Municipal Corporation to play the most crucial role of a leader to show the path to the smaller civic bodies of the state on waste management, to achieve the target set by the Prime Minister.