Waging a Srinagar lives lonely battle upto dirty MERC film bags for life 2 citytag 4 top honours 6 Vol: 4 | No.: 1 | April 30, 2011 Lab newspaper of Media Education Research Centre for private circulation only 5-day workshop held at MERC Media students Lead trainer Aloke Thakore conducts a session with MERC students. explore Ibrahim Wani workshop. He thanked Panos and the resource persons for sensitizing students five-day workshop on reporting about urban affairs and providing them issues related to urbainzation and necessary research and news writing urban Adiversity using new media was skills. He appreciated efforts of students held at Media Education Research Cen- for coming up with good stories on vari- tre (MERC) Kashmir University from ous themes related to urbanization. April 19 to 23. Dr Shahid urged the students to ben- reporting The workshop, organised by Panos efit from the experiences of the work- South Asia in collaboration with the Uni- shop. He said the department will be versity of Kashmir, aimed at strengthen- organising more such workshops for the ing skills of MERC students to cover is- students in future. sues on urban poverty and diversity. The Project Director, Panos South Asia, skills Dr Harpreet Kaur said the workshop is workshop covered areas like journalism ethics, principles and techniques of re- part of the larger project implemented porting social affairs, dealing with offi- by Panos South Asia and financially sup- cial and non-official sources of informa- ported by the Ford Foundation. tion, editorial dilemmas, writing skills, “The project aims at influencing interviewing techniques and investiga- mainstream media to initiate urbaniza- tive reporting. tion dialogue particularly in Jammu and The trainings were led by experi- Srinagar cities. The project also focuses enced media professionals including on training young media professionals Sanjeev Srivastava, ex India Affairs edi- so that they are better sensitised and tor, BBC Hindi Service and Dr Aloke Tha- equipped to cover social issues,” she said. kore, media analyst and co-founder of The course covered areas like journal- Journalism Mentor Foundation. As part ism ethics, responsible reporting of issues of the workshop, the students produced relating to social affairs, principles and media products for print, radio and tele- techniques of reporting social affairs, deal- vision which were reviewed in the con- ing with official and non-official sources of cluding session of the programme. information, editorial dilemmas, writing Head, MERC, Dr Shahid Rasool ex- skills, interviewing techniques and inves- pressed satisfaction over the conduct of tigative social reporting. MERCTIMES 2 Waging a Hospital lonely battle for life waste management fritters away Firdoose Ul Islam our dustbins – Red, Yellow, Blue and Black - are lined inside Ward 113 at Srinagar’s premier maternity Lal Ded hospital. A Fposter above them gives guidelines for the segregation of differ- Feroz Bhat when Mukhti says, “Shehre meh batih (serve the ent forms of hospital waste. The guidelines are being followed strictly meals)”. After lunch, she completes other house- but only by the patients and their attendants. Once outside, this hospi- itting on a traditional mat ‘wagu’ Taja Be- hold chores and resumes her work. tal wastage is dumped together. Reason: the incinerator at the hospital gum, 65, spins Pashmina while chatting Taja had five children- three daughters and is dysfunctional. Swith her sister-in-law, Mukhti Begum about two sons. One of her daughters and a son are dead. “We are trying to maintain the standards of hygiene in this hospi- their household affairs. Financial condition of her other son is weak. “He tal,” says Deputy Medical Superintendent, Lal Ded Hospital, Dr Nazir “We don’t have enough food material stocked for too has five children. He fetches boulders from Ahmad Chaudary. “But we don’t have a proper biological treatment this month,” says anxious-looking Taja, while the nearby stream earning Rs 200 to 300 per day, plant in Srinagar where this biological and other waste material could be sharing her concerns with Mukhti. which is insufficient to meet the household ex- disinfected. We have incinerator plant here, but that is not functioning”. Taja has a two-storey house with only three rooms penses. How can he afford two more,” says Taja. The Supreme Court guidelines make it mandatory for every hospi- in Wangund locality of Telbal area. The upper sto- “I don’t want to be a burden on him.” tal and healthcare centre to have four colour-coded dustbins to collect rey is filled with scraps and other thrown-away Seeing the condition of women, neighbours different kind of waste for proper disposal. Yellow for biological solid material. In the ground storey, there is one room suggested them to apply for funds meant for poor waste material, Red for plastic material, Blue for surgical material and divided by wooden blocks- the front part serves as and downtrodden. Taja went to officials at Social Black for food, paper and other common waste. a bedroom and the rear part functions as a bath- Welfare Department. “They always told me that Though the colour-coded dustbins have been placed in the hospi- room and kitchen. they are short of funds,” she says, adding that once tal but the wastage is not disposed off as per the guidelines. “We have Taja shares the house with Mukhti, who is in she had to sit for five long hours outside the office. a contract with a private agency ‘Kashmir health care,” said the Deputy her 90s. Since her divorce, about 50 years back, When contacted, Director Social Welfare, Medical Superintendent. “Their workers collect the waste material from Mukhti is being looked after by Taja. Hilal Ahmad Parray said, “If somebody will not our hospital, but we have no knowledge as to how they dispose or burn it.” Taja lost her husband eight years back. He approach us how can we serve them. Since it has The health experts warn that improper disposal of the hospital was an artisan. Now there is nobody to support now come to my notice I will send somebody there waste can lead to serious health problems for the people. And the Lal Ded them. But she has not stopped living. She survives who will inspect their condition. It is our duty to hospital – Valley’s lone secondary-care maternity hospital – produces a every hardship by her will and determination. help the needy.” huge amount of bio-medical waste every day. “Around 100 surgeries are Spinning is her lone source of income. On an aver- Villagers too are willing to lend a helping being done every day in our hospital,” says Dr Razia Sultan. “We produce age she earns Rs 40 to 50 per day. hand to Taja. “They have approached the con- tons of biological waste material, which contains highly infectious chemicals. Taja starts her day on spinning wheel early cerned authorities on my behalf. They are good If this waste is not decomposed properly, it can be dangerous for people”. morning and continues till noon. She stops only neighbours,” says Taja. Achen: Inside City’s largest garbage dump Muhammad Rafi Dar feed, says he cannot afford to leave the job While the dumping site is a concern for the people re- six-foot wall separates a residential neighborhood siding in the area, it is a treasure trove for the non-Kash- from the city’s largest garbage dump - Achen. On a miri scavengers. More than a dozen scavengers – men, Alarge swathe of land, heaps of garbage, dumped in women and children – sift through the waste every day to open, is a major health scare for the local residents. earn a livelihood. More than 300 tonnes of garbage are deposited ev- As each truck comes in, these scavengers jostle to eryday at Achen garbage dumping site, spread over 700 search for plastic items in the new heap of garbage. kanals, on the fringes of Srinagar city. Step inside and With a slim frame and dirty hands, 15-year-old Mu- you will crave for fresh air. Every few minutes, a vehicle of hammad Sujjan tells a story of hunger and poverty. Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) enters inside and He has been collecting plastic items and cardboard dumps the waste in open. It is left without any chemical boxes from the garbage daily for the past ten years. “Being treatment. eldest among my siblings, the responsibility of the entire “We approached authorities many times to get rid family fell on my shoulders.” of this menace but in vain,” says Abdul Rehman Mir of Nazir Ahmad Sheikh has been working as a daily “I am earning Rs 50-60 everyday. I would not like Achen. wager in SMC for the past three years. With no protective that my siblings do this kind of work. I want to admit them The dumping site, he says, is serving as a breeding gear, the work has taken toll on his health. in school so that they can study,” says Sujjan. ground for many communicable diseases. “We are working here continuously without shifts as While Achen poses health concerns to local popu- In fact, the government has failed to provide any pro- authorities are not allowing shifts,” he says. lace, for people like Nazir and Sujan, the place serves as a tective gear to its employees working at Achen. Sheikh, who earns Rs 2100 and has four children to means of livelihood. 3 MERCTIMES Black Carbon Cloud Looms Large Mir Iqbal melting snow pack and glaciers is more Kashmir are unreliable,” according to carbon emission. Making public trans- than that of Carbon Dioxide. Warmer officials of Pollution Control Board, port a more comfortable, alternative he climate of Kashmir is facing air resulting from the presence of black “since the issuers accept money for pro- to private cars could be another step.