I first saw the garbage in 2016. 

I had driven into Poonch, a border town in Jammu and Kashmir, expecting the usual sights: checkpoints, orchards, and river cutting through the landscape. Instead, I found a municipal landfill sitting right on the riverbank, leaching filth into the water. 

The Poonch Municipal Council had chosen this spot to dump everything: household waste, medical refuse, dead animals. The smell hit you first. Then you noticed the dogs. And then you saw how close the whole mess sat to the water that thousands of people downstream drink every day.

I started writing about it. I published articles, posted videos, tagged officials on social media. The council kept dumping. I wrote more, and they kept dumping. 

By 2023, I had exhausted every local channel, so I took the matter to India’s National Green Tribunal in New Delhi. The NGT hears environmental cases and possesses the power to impose real financial penalties. I filed the petition myself, thinking a court order might succeed where journalism had failed.

The tribunal has now heard this case six times. The judges have watched the same officials promise reforms, miss deadlines, and return to make identical promises. 

Last April, the NGT ordered the municipal CEO to submit a sworn affidavit pledging to clear all legacy waste by........

© Kashmir Observer