State Press Release – to be released across Telangana
12 December 2017 – for immediate release [Word version (both English and Telugu) | PDF (both English and Telugu)]
Mr Rahul Pandit, Working President of Swarna Bharat Party, India’s only liberal party, today staged a protest in Hyderabad against the government’s approach towards the city’s Municipal solid waste – a callous approach that is putting to risk the health of the citizens of Hyderabad.
Mr Pandit said that the State Government has ignored the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 which requires the segregation of garbage at source. Today, unsegregated waste is being transported to landfills. Further, non-recyclable plastics and toxic items are being dumped into landfill or left behind, thus making their way to our waterways. This has caused serious health problems for residents across the entire city of Hyderabad, particularly in areas around the Jawahar Nagar landfill.
Recently Mr Pandit’s team along with local residents and environmental activist Amina Shervani visited the colonies surrounding the Jawahar Nagar landfill to get first-hand information from residents who are suffering from foul smell and contaminated water. The team also captured visuals of contaminated leachate lakes which are poisonous to humans across the city. The State Government’s proposed power plant in Jawahar Nagar, intended to burn waste to produce power, will cause further problems including toxic air, without the root cause being addressed first.
Mr.Rahul Pandit said that we need to first get effective segregation at source and adopt recycling methods.
He said that each household produces about 400gms of waste every day, divided among biodegradables, plastics, glass and paper. The biodegradable waste should be converted into compost within the colonies itself. This compost can support households and parks for gardening and agriculture, and create new jobs. Glass, plastic and paper should be sent for grading to recycling plants. If this is done as a priority, the pollution risks to soil and water resources will be drastically reduced and any residual waste can then be sent to landfill under internationally accepted norms.
With his protest, Swarna Bharat Party has now launched its movement to protect Hyderabad’s environment and ensure effective solid waste management.
SBP has a strong commitment to add real value to peoples’ lives and will not litter street walls and roads with mindless posters and advertisements. SBP’s team has also been conducting skill development workshops in the most downtrodden places within cities and in parts of rural India. This approach has already added significant value and improved the career prospects of several youth India.
Mr Rahul Pandit invited all citizens of Hyderabad to join this transformational journey based on world-best governance principles to take Hyderabad from its current form to a real smart city in every possible way.
Notes for Editors
SBP is India’s only liberal party, committed to defending liberty and promoting prosperity.
Contact:
Rahul Pandit (Hyderabad) National Working President, +91 9703425422
Sanjay Sonawani (Pune), +91 9860991205
Sanjeev Sabhlok (Melbourne), sabhlok@gmail.com