The Clock is Ticking on Kashmir's Toxic Landfill

Srinagar has two years to clear more than 1.1 million tonnes of legacy waste from the Achan landfill. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) earlier ordered the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to remediate the site by March 2027, including operationalizing leachate treatment and odor control systems.

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The deadline is pressing. Decades of mismanagement have transformed a wetland into one of northern India's most serious environmental hazards.

Achan, originally part of the Syedpora wetland, absorbed Jhelum overflow and fed Anchar, Khushalsar, and Dal. That natural buffer is gone. Leachate from decomposing garbage now flows directly into Anchar Lake, contaminating downstream water bodies including Ramsar-protected Hokersar and Wular wetlands.

Daily, roughly 550 tonnes of garbage, including plastics, rotting food, hospital waste, and industrial debris are dumped into a site whose leachate plant functions intermittently. Methane and hydrogen sulfide escape freely, spreading pollution across Soura, Nowshahra, Eidgah, Bemina, and HMT.