100 societies in Borivali get notices to segregate domestic hazardous waste

Failure to implement it in the next 15 days would invite a penalty of ₹500, a notice issued by the R (central) ward said

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has asked around 100 housing societies in Borivali (West) to segregate waste into dry, wet and domestic hazardous waste (DHW). Failure to implement it in the next 15 days would invite a penalty of ₹500, a notice issued by the R (central) ward said.

HT had on September 22 last year reported the BMC’s decision to implement a three-bin policy, adding DHW to the list. Currently, housing societies use green bins for wet waste. Blue bins are used for dry waste. The third will be a black bin for DHW. (HT PHOTO)

HT had on September 22 last year reported the BMC’s decision to implement a three-bin policy, adding DHW to the list. Currently, housing societies use green bins for wet waste. Blue bins are used for dry waste. The third will be a black bin for DHW.

Sandhya Nandedkar, assistant commissioner, R (central) ward said, “The junior overseer (JO) is giving these notices to societies falling in their routes. Around 100 housing societies have already received this notice.”

She added, as per Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules of 2016, waste generators must give segregated waste to BMC. Post-pandemic, however, citizens have reverted to giving mixed garbage bags.

“If citizens face a problem, the mukadam or JO’s names and contact numbers are mentioned in the notice so that they can resolve their doubts and queries,” said Nandedkar. “We have separate vans to carry this waste and tell them which waste will go where. Domestic hazardous waste will be carried in dry waste vans.”

A civic official from R central ward’s SWM department said that he is in charge of 10 zones where junior overseers (JO) are given the job to issue notices to societies. The notice issued to housing societies stated that BMC had arranged for separate collection of wet, dry and DHW in the vehicles used for the collection and transportation of solid waste and the BMC has decided to dispose of it scientifically.

“As a waste generator, we are expected to actively participate in this work from the point of view of environmental protection by separating wet and dry waste through our establishment, as well as segregating household hazardous waste. Through this letter, all the citizens are requested to cooperate by keeping the household hazardous waste, which is hazardous to the environment, separately to the independent collection system implemented by the BMC,” the notice states.

The notice warned that if the above instructions were not strictly followed within the next 15 days, legal as well as penal action will be taken against the society under the provisions of Acts 367, 368 and 471, 472 of the MMC, 1888.

“The last paragraph in the notice talks about penalties and legal action if waste isn’t segregated into three kinds. We will issue a 368 notice under the MMC Act and prosecute them. We will also fine ₹500 if they don’t segregate into three kinds,” said the civic official from the SWM department.