EDMC to levy waste penalty

EDMC mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, however, said he has not seen the order yet and that he is not in favour of the decision.

From next year, residents of east Delhi will have to pay a penalty if they do not segregate their household waste into the three mandated categories of non-biodegradable (dry waste), biodegradable (wet waste) and domestic hazardous waste. For commercial institutions, however, the penalties for the same will start from November 1, 2021, said an order by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Tuesday.

As per the order, commercial outlets such as marriage halls, party lawns, banquet halls, exhibition and fares, with area less than 5000 square metres (sqm), the penalty will be ₹10,000. (HT Photo)

According to civic officials, the penalty ranges from ₹200 (for individual households) to ₹10,000 (for gated communities) and ₹20,000 (for market associations). The penalties will be imposed by the civic body under the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016, and the by-laws under its jurisdiction.

As per the order, commercial outlets such as marriage halls, party lawns, banquet halls, exhibition and fares, with area less than 5000 square metres (sqm), the penalty will be ₹10,000. For cinema halls, pubs, community halls with an area less than 5000 sqm, the fine shall be ₹5,000. For hotels, the penalty will be ₹50,000 and for restaurants, it will be ₹20,000.

“A month’s time will be given to all categories of establishments, including residential, to comply with the rules. Door to door collection of waste has already been started in the area. We have been carrying out awareness drives for the same,” said a senior corporation official, who asked not to be named.

“I have yet to see the order. We need to educate people and make them aware of how they can segregate waste and provide different alternatives for the same before we can think of levying penalties. There are a number of resettlement colonies and other such areas where people need to be provided with a mechanism to segregate waste,” he said.

Resident associations in east Delhi, too, are against the civic body’s decision of levying penalty without providing a framework.

BS Vohra, president, East Delhi RWAs Federation, said imposing a penalty is just not right. “The civic body is ready to levy fines on people without even holding a discussion with the residents. They first need to provide adequate services. When there is waterlogging in the streets and potholes, there is no penalty imposed on the civic body for inconveniencing residents,” said Vohra.