Strengthening the monitoring of garbage collection points remained the main agenda of the first House meeting of the newly elected Mohali municipal corporation (MC) on Friday, where mayor Sarabjeet Singh Samana announced that all resource management centre (RMC) points would soon be brought under 24x7 closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera surveillance.
RMCs are decentralised points where garbage collected from across households and other units are brought in and segregated into dry and wet waste before being sent for processing. Mohali has 14 such RMCs.
The House meeting – the first since Samana assumed office on June 9 – was also marked by the active participation of his father, MLA Kulwant Singh, who attended the proceedings after nearly four years and personally responded to several civic issues raised by councillors.
The House discussed a wide range of issues, from garbage management and civic infrastructure to parks, public toilets, committee formation and development works in GMADA-transferred areas.
Waste scattered outside RMCs
While councillors across party lines appreciated the mayor’s efforts in tackling the city’s garbage problem during his first fortnight in office, many expressed concern over the functioning of RMC points. Members pointed out that garbage was frequently found scattered outside the sites as passers-by dumped waste indiscriminately while, at times, sanitation staff also failed to manage the waste properly, leading to foul smell and unhygienic conditions.
Responding to the concerns, municipal commissioner Sundeep Singh Garha said he, along with the mayor, had inspected several RMC points before the House meeting and found improvements in their functioning.
{{/usCountry}}Responding to the concerns, municipal commissioner Sundeep Singh Garha said he, along with the mayor, had inspected several RMC points before the House meeting and found improvements in their functioning.
{{/usCountry}}Samana announced that CCTV cameras would soon be installed at all RMC points. He informed the House that out of the city’s 14 RMC points, seven already have 24x7 surveillance cameras while work to cover the remaining seven would be completed shortly.
The MLA said the MC would also establish a dedicated control room to monitor the CCTV feeds. The facility, he said, would help identify violations by both sanitation staff and residents, enabling the civic body to initiate action against defaulters under the MC rules and regulations.
Garha ruled out shifting RMC points merely because of local objections. He said each defined zone requires an RMC point and they cannot simply be removed. He added that any councillor seeking relocation of an RMC point within his or her ward would first have to identify an alternate suitable site within the same ward.