KDMC claims to treat 100% wet waste in city and achieves 95% waste segregation

KDMC now aims at imposing 100% waste segregation from all the waste generators in the city by the end of March 2022

Kalyan: After being in the news for all the wrong reasons over the incessant dumping of waste on the Adharwadi dumping ground for years, the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has come a long way in waste management. The civic body not only treats 100% of the wet waste generated in the city in its various composting and stops the dumping at Adharwadi, but it now also collects 95% waste in segregated form from both commercial and residential establishments.

After being in the news for all the wrong reasons over the incessant dumping of waste on the Adharwadi dumping ground for years, the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has come a long way in waste management (Agencies)

KDMC now aims at imposing 100% waste segregation from all the waste generators in the city by the end of March 2022.

Apart from the civic body, around 57 housing societies in the twin cities of Kalyan and Dombivli manage their own waste without sending it to the civic body. Out of these, KDMC has already given an exemption of 5% on property tax to 36 societies. These societies have their own composting unit installed inside the building premises and they manage their waste within the society.

The Adharwadi dumping which led to a lot of problems to the residents and had met its dumping capacity was closed in May 2021. Since then, the corporation has undertaken various initiatives like involving rag pickers in waste collection and segregation, installing waste segregations sheds at every ward and setting up 300 metric tons of composting plant at Umbarde.

Ramdas Kokare, deputy commissioner, KDMC, said, “We have managed to successfully implement the segregation of waste across KDMC by 95% and this month we are focusing on making it 100 percent. The approach towards waste management among the residents is changing day by day with more citizens adopting segregation of waste. Our team managed to reach out to residents and educate them on segregation throughout the pandemic,” said.

Through segregation KDMC claims to earn a revenue of ₹25 lakhs in the coming year through dry waste. “The segregated dry waste which will be sold to recycling units will help us earn revenue. Many housing societies are contributing by doing segregation actively on a regular basis. Such societies are identified and to motivate them we are also giving them property tax exemption,” said Kokare.

The work on a 150 metric ton composting plant will begin by the end of this year as the tendering process is in the final stages. The civic body has purchased 53 new garbage vehicles for waste collection and transportation which are run on CNG. “Further a biogas to CNG project at Barave in Kalyan will help the civic body to acquire CNG at a very low price that can be used for the vehicles. The tender for the Barave project did not get any response, so we will float them again,” said Kokare.

Residents however claimed there is a long way to go Founder of the Alert citizen forum Sreeniwas Ghanekar said, “The civic body used to dump around 550 metric tonne waste to the Adharwadi dumping ground. When they claimed that the dumping at Adharwadi had stopped, I had asked them to give me the details on how the wet waste managed. However, there was no response from the civic body. Also, even if the civic body claims societies are segregating the waste there are many who are still not doing it. At the same time, we can see waste dumped on streets for weeks. There is a need to look into this as well.” Ban on plastic helps reduce waste generated. The civic body also claimed to have reduced the amount of waste generated in the city with the ban on plastic use. The civic body, which earlier had to deal with 550 metric ton of waste, claimed at least 90 ton of waste has been reduced due to the ban on plastic, Kokare said.