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Chief secretary pulls up Mohali MC, administrative officials over trash crisis
Addressing the officials in a virtual meet, Punjab chief secretary Anurag Verma told them to process waste daily and stop letting it collect at dumping sites.
Amid the ongoing trash crisis in Mohali, Punjab chief secretary Anurag Verma on Wednesday cracked the whip on municipal corporation and administration officials, warning them of strict action, including chargesheet, if a proper solution is not found soon.
Addressing the officials in a virtual meet, Verma told them to process waste daily and stop letting it collect at dumping sites. He also told them to get rid of all dumping sites across the state.
Verma further told them to ensure strict adherence to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders of processing the waste and act against erring staff members.
A senior officer, who was part of the virtual meet, said, “The government is taking the garbage dump issue very seriously and thus the chief secretary warned all MC heads and administrative officers concerned of strict action in case any kind of non-compliance to NGT orders is found. We have been asked to make urgent arrangements for garbage collection and processing.”
When contacted, Verma said, “Officers across the state have been asked to expedite the tenders and make the garbage processing mechanism functional as the government has already spent money on it. In Mohali, GMADA has been asked to direct the developers to manage their waste till a solution is found. I have also asked the GMADA chief administrator to initiate process of handing over the old sectors to MC for maintenance.”
Private contractor roped in to handle waste temporarily
Meanwhile, in a major relief for residents amid the ongoing crisis, the Mohali MC has roped in a private contractor for waste disposal. This is to be a temporary arrangement for two months, and the private contractor -- who is yet to get an official work order -- started waste collection from 14 resource management centres (RMC) in the city on Wednesday. The work order will be allotted after the MC House passes a resolution. The House will be meeting soon.
After failing six times to allot tenders for bioremediation, which invited the wrath of the NGT and the Punjab and Haryana high court, Mohali MC started processing the waste on its own last month.
On Wednesday, the staff of the private contractor collected waste from the overstuffed RMC points. “This will decrease most of our load as our garbage collectors will collect waste and dump it at the RMCs. The contractor’s staff will take all the fresh waste, wet and dry, and process it at his plant. This is a temporary arrangement as we are soon going to allot permanent tender for the garbage processing,” said Mohali mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu.
On GMADA’s part, chief administrator Moneesh Kumar said, “We will process our garbage now and have expedited our efforts. Residents should understand the gravity of the situation and segregate the waste at their home which will resolve the issue completely. We have also requested the developers to make adequate arrangements in their areas till the time we don’t come up with a required solution.”
GMADA had earlier requested the MC to process the garbage collected from its areas too. “We are ready to pay MC for the collection and processing of garbage in our areas but the MC is reluctant to do so. We will soon identify our garbage dumping points from where a temporary contractor would be able to collect the waste. Eventually, we will open a tender for the same,” a GMADA officer said.
