Srinagar, June 18 (KNS) : Expressing grave concern over the escalating plastic pollution crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, the Committee on Environment of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Thursday urged the government to impose a comprehensive ban on single-use plastic across the Union Territory, while also directing authorities to initiate immediate dialogue to resolve the ongoing strike by sanitation workers.
The Committee, chaired by veteran CPI(M) leader and MLA M.Y. Tarigami, observed that the indiscriminate use of plastic has emerged as a major environmental challenge, adversely impacting public health, polluting water bodies, and degrading the region's fragile ecological balance.
In a significant appeal to the administration, Tarigami urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to consider issuing an executive order for a complete ban on plastic use in the larger interest of environmental protection and sustainable development. He also called upon the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) to intensify enforcement mechanisms and ensure strict compliance with existing laws aimed at eliminating single-use plastics, particularly in tourist destinations, religious shrines, and other environmentally sensitive areas.
In a parallel development, the Committee took serious cognizance of the ongoing indefinite strike by sanitation workers engaged by various Urban Local Bodies as Casual Labourers (CLs) and Daily Rated Workers (DRWs), who are protesting against precarious working conditions and demanding regularisation of their services.
Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelDescribing sanitation workers as the backbone of urban civic services, the Committee directed the Commissioner and Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department to initiate dialogue with the agitating workers and sympathetically examine their demands to resolve the impasse at the earliest.
The panel also sought a comprehensive report on the environmental impact of the Achan landfill site in Srinagar and the Bhagwati Nagar dumping ground in Jammu, including the status of legacy waste remediation, scientific waste processing, and compliance with National Green Tribunal (NGT) directives.
Among other key deliberations, the Committee discussed pollution concerns in the River Tawi, Surinsar Lake, and Mansar Lake, directing concerned officials to conduct on-the-spot inspections and submit detailed reports on conservation measures.
Prominent among those who participated in the meeting included Committee members Prof. Gharu Ram, Dr. Baldev Raj Sharma, Showkat Hussain Ganie, Javaid Ahmad Mirchal, Salman Sagar, Javaid Riyaz (Bedar), Rameshwar Singh, and Devyani Rana. Senior officers from the Housing and Urban Development Department, Forest, Ecology and Environment Department, JKPCC, SMC, JMC, and the Assembly Secretariat were also present. (KNS)