Hyderabad: A burning issue at Hussain Sagar

Necklace Road: Though the State government has prohibited open burning of waste on land in 2017, there are several instances of garbage burning in the heart of the city. In 2017, the State government also imposed a fine for violation of the ban and issued an order (GO) to the effect in compliance with a National Green Tribunal (NGT) judgment in December 2016 which states that a fine of Rs 5000 has been imposed for simple burning and Rs 25,000 for bulk waste burning.

With this, in the past four years, instances of the waste burning in open places reduced but in the new year the menace started occurring again and incidents of people burning wastage or garbage were reported in the open land near Lake Police at Tank Bund, Necklace Road, and in Rani Gunj on Thursday night.

According to the Assistant Medical Officer of Health (AMOH), Greater Hyderabad Municipal (GHMC) over 15 to 20 complaints have been registered in Khairatabad circle, while some violators who were identified have been awarded a penalty and others still have to be identify. "The GHMC is co-ordinating with the police department to stop garbage burning in the city and crack the whip on offenders," said the AMOH.

Locals point to an increasing number of incidents of garbage burning during midnight is being noticed around the Hussain Sagar. Heaps of garbage are being burnt at multiple sites like Necklace Road. Garbage burnt in the dustbin was recently reported near Tank Bund and Sajeevaiah Park.

A street vendor at Tank Bund who observed the incident told that some locals during night time arrive with bags of garbage and dump it on the open near Tank Bund and set it afire. A local from Maqta area beside Tank Bund said, "Due to road-widening work going on at the Tank Bund, no police or sanitation workers are visiting the site, due to which some people dump garbage and burn it which leaves smoke and we resident feeling choking during night time."

Burning garbage is a crime in Telangana. "People must follow the rules. Anyone identified will be held and the penalty could attract a fine of up to Rs 25,000," said an official from Telangana State Pollution Control Board.