Cattle owners living in and around the Lamdeng Solid Waste Management Plant for Imphal City expressed their concern over the health of their cattle with the plant being poorly fenced.
It has been reported that several cows in the area have frequently fallen ill and some even died after consuming the wastes the garbage dumps, such as empty plastic water bottles and bags at the Lamdeng Solid Waste Management Plant site.
A member of Sanjen Lup of Lamdeng Mayai Leikai said that there are around 160 cows in Lamdeng Mayai Leikai and Lamdeng Makha Leikai. In the absence of a proper fencing around the waste managment plant, several cattle can be seen loitering into the plant and scavenging from the waste dumped inside it. He said that they let out the cows at around 10 am till 5 pm daily.
Had there been proper fencing, the cows would not have ventured into the waste management plant, he said, adding that more than 20 cows had fallen sick and some died recently.
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The Sanjen Lup member further claimed that even the cowdung smells like feces and it can no longer be used as fertiliser because of the unbreable stench it gives out.
The cows which consume plastic wastes such as plastic bottles face digestion problems. “Some of the cows are sold for their meat and people who bought the cows for their meat complain that most of the time they found plastic wastes in the cows' stomachs,” said the member.
It may be mentioned that Innovative Eco Case Thermotech Systems Pvt Ltd, Ahmedabad has been running the Solid Waste Management Plant For Imphal City since 2017 under the Municipal Administration Housing & Urban Development (MAHUD).
According to the company manager, RK Modhurjit said that the land spread of the plant is only 12 acres out of the 70 acres of land owned by the state MAHUD.
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The manager said that they have urged the authorities concerned to put up a fence around the plant and the PDA concerned have partially done their work.
Modhurjit said that they tried to chase away the cows but failed. The farmers also left their cows at the plant area as they cannot let the cows enter the fields till the harvesting season.
RK Modhurjit also mentioned that the wastes dumped at the southern side of the plant do not include in the plant’s boundary. The waste was dumped by the Imphal Municipality a year back.
As per the agreement with MAHUD, the solid waste should only be collected from the Imphal Municipal Corporation commercial areas but it also started collecting from non-commercial areas of Imphal East like Heingang, Thongkhong Laxmi Bazar Municipal Council, Samurou Municipal Council and Sekmai Municipal Council.
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The manager further said that collecting of solid waste is being carried out by 16 NGOs and IMC and around 140-150 tons of solid wastes are collected per day.
Thirty-two staff including manager, supervisor, operator, driver, and the worker have been looking into the managment of the plant. The timing for depositing solid waste is from 6 am till 3 pm, he added.
People of the area had been enduring the stench from the plant and especially during the rainy season.
No longer tolerating the menace, villagers come out and strongly urged the concerned government authorities to take up steps to ensure a clean and healthy environment for the welfare of the people and the animals.
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