Wastage of food (traditional Kashmiri wazwan) during wedding ceremonies has become a disappointing trend es¬pecially in the summer capital. As the wedding season is at its peak, incidents of wastage of food are witnessing a steep increase, invit¬ing severe criticism from a section of the conscious citizens in the so¬ciety.
Aliya Amin, a resident of Khanyar said she relished all the varieties of Wazwan (Kashmiri cuisine) dur¬ing a marriage ceremony recently at Rajbagh. But to her surprise, the other women sharing food with her tasted only two dishes and did not touch the rest of the varieties of the cuisine.
“I was surprised as most of the food served was wasted without guests even tasting it. Attendants serving the feast threw the leftover food into the dustbins,” Aliya said.
She said there were people at the marriage ceremony who preferred to waste the dishes than taking it home. “They feel embarrassed if they take wazwan home. This is a new trend in Kashmir,” Aliya add¬ed.
Like Aliya, Khalida from Soura area of Srinagar said she had argu¬ments with many women in her vicinity over the wastage of food.
“Every day, I would see food dumped at the corner of my lane. I was so depressed to see this as I have seen people who hardly get their daily meals because of poverty,” she said.
Khalida said the food wastage is not only a growing social concern but it also has a negative impact on the environment as well as economy of Kashmir valley. She said the government should take steps to control the wastage of food in the city.
The wastage of food continues despite government promising ac¬tion against the violators especialy in Kashmir valley. In the year 2017, the government had ordered limiting wazwan dishes to only seven. The order also sought to bring down the number of guests to not more than 500 people per wedding.
But on ground the order never saw implementation in the real sense as the government failed to do so. Also, there is no social acceptance to such an order.
According to Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), 70 to 80 percent of the waste matter in Srinagar is the food waste.
Chief Sanitation Officer, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Syed Nasir told Kashmir Post that the corporation collects over 450 metric tonnes of food waste in the city.
“At the time of marriage season, the food waste increases. Besides, the marriage food waste, we collect the household food waste every day,” he said.
Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CA&PD), Director, Muhammad Qasim Wani said he will soon conduct a meeting related to the food waste especially at mar¬riage ceremonies.
He said his department will ensure implementation of the order limiting the guests at weddings and other ceremonies.
