A quick turnaround in the municipal corporation’s poor waste management record in the city is unlikely with MC officials claiming that complete waste segregation will begin only after an additional 390 waste segregation trucks are bought.
It will take at least two months before the trucks are bought and made operational. Currently, the civic body has 100 waste segregation vehicles, but many of these couldn’t be used because the segregation drive failed to kickstart in many sectors.
Chandigarh failed to break into top 10 in the Swachh Survekshan 2020 rankings mainly because of poor waste management. City’s score in the service-level progress parameter, which mainly comprises performance in solid waste management, dropped from 90% last year to 76.33% this year.
The MC has a poor track record in waste collection, segregation and processing. More than 5 lakh metric tonne (MT) legacy waste is dumped at Dadumajra site, and an additional 25,000 MT is lying at the waste processing plant in there. Lack of segregation at source was one of the major disputes between the private firm, earlier running the plant, and the MC.
MC commissioner KK Yadav said, “As soon as we get the 390 waste segregation vehicles, we will begin with the perfect model under which 100% segregation at source will be done. Right now, it is an average model.”
{{/usCountry}}MC commissioner KK Yadav said, “As soon as we get the 390 waste segregation vehicles, we will begin with the perfect model under which 100% segregation at source will be done. Right now, it is an average model.”
{{/usCountry}}‘TECHNICAL ISSUES LED TO DELAY’
On the delay in procuring the vehicles, Yadav said, “First, there was an issue regarding compliance with BS-VI norms. Then the pandemic hit. There were also some technical issues with the tender floated for procuring the vehicles. We are anticipating that by October we will get them.”
The procurement of the additional 390 vehicles is still pending with the technical committee of Chandigarh Smart City Limited. Recently, CSCL had approved two firms in the technical bid out of the four that had applied. After financial bids are opened, the allotment of tender will take place.
Even though it is yet to begin the segregation drive in urban areas, the MC had submitted with the Swachh Bharat Mission that 92.3% waste was segregated at source and 95% was being processed.
In a report of the Centre for Science and Environment on Solid Waste Management released by the Swachh Bharat Mission, the MC had submitted that 100% waste segregation at source had been implemented in 24 of the 26 wards in the city.The report stated that against 479 MT waste produced in the city in a day, 455 MT was processed daily. But in reality, only 120 MT is being processed.