Now, separate vehicles for dry and wet waste……Bhavika Jain
BMC Initiative – Exercise will be conducted on a pilot basis in five wards from this month itself
In a bid to renew an attempt to segregate waste, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will send separate vehicles in wards to collect the dry waste from this month. Earlier, there was only one compactor to collect the dry and wet waste in different bags. Therefore the garbage would get mixed up, defeating the purpose of the exercise.
The BMC will collect dry and wet waste in separate tempos. This exercise will be conducted on a pilot basis in five wards. Areas like Bandra (west), Goregaon, Malad, Kandivli and Borivli have been short-listed for the project.
The waste collected will be taken to sorting centers that have been created in these wards and rag pickers will sort them and sell it to the recyclers.
The wet waste will be taken to the dumping grounds.
Singh said the success of the initiative depended on the support of the locals and the advanced local management.
The BMC will also be undertaking ward-level meetings, appointing nodal officers to set a segregation target in each ward, and penalise defaulting premises.
There is a provision for a minimum penalty of Rs 1,000 in the Municipal Solid Waste rules, 2000. The nodal officer should give a notice period of 30 days to a society before they are fined says the circular.
Officials in Solid Waste Management (SWM) department said segregation will reduce the amount of waste that goes to the dumping grounds and will decrease the amount of fee charged by the contractor to process the waste (called the tipping fee).
Anandini Thakoor, of the H-west federation said they will be undertaking seminars for different societies to explain to them the need for segregation.
A similar initiative was undertaken in 2000 but because of a lack of infrastructure for collection, transportation and disposal, the initiative failed.
The city generates 6,500 metric tonnes of waste everyday, which is 460 grams per head. Currently less than 5 % of this is segregated. The city has only four dumping grounds, Deonar, Gorai, Kanjurmarg and Mulund.