Panchkula: In the dumps, voters threaten to junk vote over Jhuriwala

For two decades, residents of Panchkula’s Sectors 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28, and villagers of adjoining Moginand and Madanpur have been complaining of stench from the Jhuriwala dumping ground on the Barwala-Panchkula highway and raising concerns of groundwater contamination

As Haryana goes to the polls on October 5, it’s payback time for residents of Panchkula sectors across the Ghaggar river. They have been running a sustained campaign, demanding the shifting of the dumping ground at Jhuriwala on the Barwala-Panchkula highway, besides the Sector 23 waste collection point for years, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Alongside the virtual campaign, Panchkula residents have been holding protests, seeking the shifting of the dump yard that has become a health and environment concern. (Sant Arora/HT)

With the assembly elections round the corner, social media is abuzz with slogans, such as: Jhuriwala hatao, vote le jao (Remove Jhuriwala dump, and you have our vote)”; Let us breathe, we will let you win; No dump-free Panchkula, no vote; Congress dekhi, BJP dekhi dhoka diya bari bari, kya ab NOTA ki bari; and Dumping ground hataoge tabhi vote le paoge.”

Alongside the virtual campaign, the residents have been holding protests, seeking the shifting of the dump yard that has become a health and environment concern. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) fined the civic bodies of Panchkula and Kalka ₹10 crore for violating norms in 2022. Yet, the problem of proper waste disposal and management persists, driving residents to dump garbage at the Panchkula municipal corporation office last month in a desperate bid to resolve the issue.

MC fails to deliver

For over two decades, residents of Panchkula’s Sectors 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28, and villagers of adjoining Moginand and Madanpur have been complaining of stench emanating from the Jhuriwala dumping ground and raising concerns over a possible contamination of underground water. The situation worsens during the monsoon as the water from the dumped garbage overflows onto the streets. The residents have been approaching government officials and the MC, but nothing has changed on the ground despite the NGT’s rap.

Panchkula generates 200MT of garbage daily but in the absence of a garbage processing facility, Panchkula MC has been transporting garbage to Patvi in Ambala since 2023. The city’s garbage was dumped in Sector 23 from 2004-20 after which it was transported to Jhuriwala.

Undertaking and ground reality

Following the NGT orders, the MC claimed that 3 lakh MT tonnes of garbage dumped in Sector 23 and the 1.03 lakh MT of legacy waste at Jhuriwala has been cleared. In its undertaking before the NGT in April, the Panchkula MC submitted currently only 0.45 acre of the 4.5 acres has legacy waste and plantation and grassing efforts are underway in the reclaimed area.

The absence of a garbage-processing facility has hit the city’s Swachh Survekshan rankings, too, as Panchkula slipped from the 86th rank in 2022 to the 139th position among 446 cities with a population above 1 lakh in 2023.

Taking note of the inability of the MC to shift the dumping ground, the Haryana Pollution Control Board has also served a notice to it to pay ₹20 crore.

Box

What residents say

Residents are fed up with the unhygienic conditions owing to the garbage dump. We have had enough. Political parties don’t have the will to find a solution. They failed to set up a garbage processing facility despite assurances.

-- Mohit Gupta, a resident of Sector 25.

Residents have decided to boycott the assembly elections. A few members are of the view that they should opt for NOTA. Anyone who assures us that the dump will be shifted, gets our vote.

Nitesh Mittal, convenor of the Sangram Jhuriwala Dumping Ground Committee.

Candidates’ speak:

The garbage collected daily is being transported to Patvi. The Panchkula MC is working on decentralisation of material recovery facility centres and urging resident welfare associations (RWAs) and councillors to identify vacant sites in their respective wards for this purpose.

Gian Chand Gupta, who has been the BJP MLA from Panchkula for the past 10 years.

The BJP lacks the political will to find a solution to issues that plague the city. During a meeting with residents of the trans Ghaggar area, I assured them that relocating the dump will be my priority.

Chander Mohan, Congress candidate

We are committed to solving the issues of Panchkula and doing so promptly.

Prem Garg, the Aam Aadmi Party candidate