Srinagar, June 05: A total of 52 Plastic Waste Management Units (PWMUs) have been made functional across Jammu and Kashmir under the Swachh Bharat Mission–Grameen (SBM-G), marking a significant step in the Union Territory’s rural sanitation and solid waste management efforts, officials on Thursday said.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, Director General, Rural Sanitation, J&K, Anoo Malhotra, said that the operational PWMUs are already delivering results in the collection, segregation, and recycling of plastic waste. However, this infrastructure alone is not enough, and called for greater grassroots participation to curb the growing threat of plastic pollution in rural areas.
“In J&K, under SBM–Grameen, we have seen a rural sanitation revolution. Lakhs of households now have toilets, waste is being managed in a systematic way, and open defecation has reduced drastically and also turned its attention to addressing rural plastic waste.
Quoting official data from State Pollution Control Boards and Committees, plastic waste generation peaked at 74,826.33 tons in 2019–20, but has since declined significantly to 30,342 tons in 2022–23. Malhotra attributed this drop to focused initiatives under SBM-G and the scaling up of PWMUs.
She said that the Directorate of Rural Sanitation plans to add 23 more PWMUs in the financial year 2025–26. The intervention must go beyond infrastructure.
“Plastic from milk packets to gutka pouches and carry bags is silently invading our rural landscape. It chokes drains, harms livestock, and pollutes soil,” DG Rural Sanitation said.
To tackle this challenge, she also called for a five-point action plan at the village level: household-level waste segregation, active panchayat-led collection systems, eco-friendly promotion by youth clubs and self-help groups, plastic-free school zones, and public recognition of sanitation workers.
“Let us make every nala, every chakkar, every mohalla a testimony to our love for this land,” she said, urging residents to become “environmental ambassadors.”
Director General, Rural Sanitation, J&K, Anoo Malhotra appealed to young technocrats to engage in problem-solving for rural waste and sanitation issues.
“Your knowledge, energy, and innovation can convert vision into reality. Let our educational institutes become a cradle of sustainable solutions for our villages and cities,” she said.
