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Swachh Survekshan: MC struggles with solid waste management, Ludhiana’s ranking likely to dip further
Last year, the Ludhiana dropped five spots and was ranked 39 out of 48 cities across the country, but MC as it is still lagging behind on the majority of fronts to deal with solid waste management
Municipal corporation’s failure to hire solid waste management contractor for over a year may cost city’s ranking under Swachh Survekshan-2022 to sink further this year.
The physical inspections under the Swachh Survekshan are to be held in March.
Last year, the city dropped five spots and was ranked 39 out of 48 cities across the country, but MC as it is still lagging behind on the majority of fronts.
The MC has been struggling with solid waste management after the A2Z company terminated the contract with the civic body on February 4. While the civic body has roped in a third party on a temporary basis for shifting the garbage generated in the city to the main dump site at Tajpur road, the waste processing at the main site has completely come to a halt.
Over 1,100 metric tonnes of garbage is generated in the city on a daily basis and around 20 lakhs metric tonnes of garbage (legacy waste) have accumulated at the dump site (landfill) in the last many years. Despite tall claims made by authorities in the past to deal with legacy waste, nothing has been done at ground-level.
Open secondary garbage dumps at different parts of the city are an eyesore resulting in unhygienic conditions in the surrounding areas. On February 27, different NGOs also took a sarcastic dig at the MC by organising a ‘selfie at garbage dump’ event. Civic body’s much touted project to install static compactors across the city to stop open dumping of waste is hanging fire. The Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) has installed the compactors at over half-a-dozen sites. But garbage is still dumped in the open at over three dozen secondary dump sites in the city.
The authorities claim that segregation of waste is being done in 50 percent areas in the papers. However, the ground reality is completely different and waste segregation is negligible.
The civic body has also failed to establish Construction and Demolition (C and D) waste plant, even as the project has been halted for years. In absence of the plant, waste is dumped in open spaces and green belts across the city, which also adds to pollution.
One of the MC officials requesting anonymity said the third party is expected to reach the city in the first or second week of March for field inspections. “The department uploaded the documents regarding the steps being taken by MC, but the ground reality is different. This will certainly have a negative impact on the ranking of the city. The team will also check the sewer treatment plants (STP) of MC, which have not been working properly in the past and are still being upgraded under the Buddha Nullah project,” the official said.
Despite attempts made to reach MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal, he was not available for comments.
Meanwhile, additional commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said the process to hire a contractor for solid waste management is on and a company will be hired shortly. “Project to install static compactors is also going on under Smart City Mission, civil works have already been completed at many sites. Efforts are being made to streamline solid waste management in the city,” he added.
Components of Survekshan-2022
As per the tool kit of Survekshan 2022 issued by the ministry of housing and urban affairs, the marks under the competition have been increased from 6000 to 7500 this year with more focus on solid waste management. The survey is divided into three parts - Service Level Progress - 3000 marks (40%), Certification - 2250 marks (30%) and Citizens’ voice - 2250 marks (30%).
The Service Level Progress indicators consist of sustainable sanitation and safaimitra suraksha; segregation of waste and processing and disposal. In the second part - Certification, cities would be certified on the basis of star rating of garbage-free cities (GFC), open defecation free (ODF)/Water + parameters for certification. The third section, Citizens’ voice, comprises of citizens’ feedback, engagement, experience, SwachhataApp, innovation etc.