Kishangarh (Rajasthan) | Once known for its marble industry and Bani Thani paintings, Kishangarh has assumed a new identity over the years -- a viral tourist destination that often features in selfies and reels.
The biggest attraction here is the all-white marble dumping yard, Asia's largest, which is often confused for a snow-covered landscape. It draws more than 5,000 visitors every day and up to 20,000 on weekends.
While the administration and business owners in the area are pleased with the 'Marble City of India' finding a place on the national tourism map, farmers in nearby villages are a worried lot as the marble dust often covers their fields, affecting the soil quality and crop production.
Farmers in neighbouring villages of Tokra, Bhojiyawas, Rahimpura, Phaloda, Mohanpura and Kali Dungri pointed out that the marble dust often settles on their agricultural land and mixes with irrigation water.
The usual crops grown in the belt are wheat, barley, mustard and gram in summer and winter seasons, and millets and moong in the monsoon season.
"When initially the marble waste was accumulating, it was not this bad. Over the years, the slurry dried up. Now when the winds blow, the marble dust settles all over the crops. We try to use sprinklers to help wash it, but excessive watering also damages the crops," a 42-year-old woman, who works in her farm in Tokra village, told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
"We cover our faces while working in the farm because the dust causes allergies. Sometimes when the winds are strong, the marble dust also comes into our house and onto the terrace and we have to close the windows. While all this is manageable, the problem is loss of livelihood since agriculture is our only source of income," she said.
Dinesh (name changed) said the yield in his farms in Kali Dungri village has been reduced to almost half over the past five years.
When a PTI reporter visited these villages, the farmers showed their lands with marble dust sitting on them. Most of them refused to be identified, fearing targeting by the marble giants operating in the area.
Farmers whose agricultural land is close to the dumping yard are the worst affected.
Among these is 52-year-old Mandraj, who was forced to give up farming and start a tea stall to sustain himself.
"A white layer of marble dust often covers our crops. Ultimately, the production is low. Since my farms are very close to the dumping yard, last year the slurry ran into them and formed a thick layer on my field, making it unfit for sowing," Mandraj said.
"My farms now have a solid layer of marble waste. The slurry also entered my well, rendering it useless. I even complained to the administration, but nothing happened," he claimed.
The dumping site, where over 700 tankers carrying around 22 lakh litres of marble slurry are emptied every day, is spread over 350 acres.
Environmentalists and health experts have flagged the dumping yard as a health hazard and a pollution hotspot.
Scientific studies conducted by the Central University of Rajasthan have flagged it as a "toxic tourist destination", documenting the health and ecological impacts of this unregulated dumping.
The concerns also reached the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which set up a joint committee, including members from the state and central pollution control boards.
According to Laxmi Kant Sharma, Environmental Science Professor, Central University of Rajasthan, marble slurry not only reduces soil fertility, but also leads to contamination of water bodies due to leaching of chemicals, reflecting in total dissolved solids escalating 10 times above safe limits in a 6-km radius of the dumping site.
"Our research found that the fine marble dust carried by the wind poses respiratory health risks to nearby communities, contributing to air pollution. The scale of the problem is massive, with thousands of tonnes of waste generated daily from hundreds of marble processing units.
"Farmers in nearby areas have also complained that the marble dust often settles on their land," Sharma told PTI.
He noted that despite its scale and impact, the dumping yard is being operated in flagrant violation of basic environmental safeguards.
"There is no engineered liner system, no decanting wells, no dust suppression mechanisms, no monitoring of air or groundwater, and no protective green belt. These failures have led to severe contamination of groundwater, degradation of agricultural land, and high levels of fugitive dust pollution, thereby endangering public health," he said.
However, the Kishangarh Marble Association (KMA), which maintains the dumping yard, dismissed the claims.
"We have done dense plantation along the wall of the dumping yard that works as a natural wall to stop dust particles within the dumping yard. The trees work as a great wall to move any sort of dust from both sides. This is the reason that the dumping yard looks snow white from inside and outside, and there is no harm to agricultural fields," said KMA president Sudhir Jain.
The Kishangarh marble industry was established in the 1980s. Some 30 years ago, the Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) allotted two dumping plots to the KMA. That is when the first marble waste was dumped here, and the slurry accumulated to the extent that it formed white plateaus and mountains.
For years, nobody paid attention. The location shot into the limelight after comedian Kapil Sharma shot a song here for his debut film "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon" in 2016. Then, more and more celebrities started turning up.
The place also caught the attention of pre-wedding photographers, who started bringing couples here to capture them against the white landscapes and blue ponds.
The KMA came up with an innovative model of turning the dumping yard into a tourist destination, which also has a helipad now.
While entry for visitors is free, they do need to obtain a pass from the KMA office, about a kilometre away. A visitor entering with a single digital camera must pay Rs 500, a pre-wedding shoot costs Rs 5,100 a day and a commercial shoot costs up to Rs 21,000 a day.
