E-Paper
Segregate waste or pay fine of ₹250 from February 10 in Mohali
In January last year, the MC had submitted its action plan for solid waste and garbage management to National Green tribunal (NGT) and a March 31 deadline was set for implementing garbage segregation at source.
Aiming to comply with the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT), which has set a deadline of March 31 for the Mohali municipal corporation to segregate waste at source, the civic body has formed four teams and will begin challaning the residents ₹250 each from February 10 onwards.
For the last two years, garbage segregation at source in Mohali has remained a damp squib. Though the ideaa was conceived two years ago, the Mohali MC has made futile efforts to make the notion a reality.
In January last year, the MC had submitted its action plan for solid waste and garbage management to National Green tribunal (NGT) and a March 31 deadline was set for implementing garbage segregation at source.
Though the civic body carried out awareness drives for two years and also issued 50 notices, it could not get much success.
MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said, “We have constituted four teams and challan books have been issued. We will create awareness for one or two days and then challans will be issued from February 10. We have already given 45 specially-designed carts to garbage collectors.”
Rajan Khamriya, president of Safai Majdoor Federation, said, “Though at some places residents are segregating waste, but at most places, it is not being done. We have urged the residents to follow the practice. I think once the civic body will start issuing challans, they will segregate the waste.”
After Mohali slipped to the 153rd rank in the Swachh Survekshan rankings announced in March last year, the MC initiated garbage composting pits in the city, the first city in the tricity to do so. Around 240 composting pits were constructed at each dumping site in Mohali. Five resource management centres (RMC) for waste were also created but they failed to convince the residents.
City mayor Kulwant Singh said, “I urge residents welfare associations and other bodies to come forward to make the project successful. If we are to attain the target of March 31, the implementation of garbage segregation at source has to be achieved.”
SEGREGATION DRIVE BEGAN IN 2017
The garbage segregation project, which was launched on a trial basis from Sector 71 around mid-April 2017 and later formally launched by the then local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on June 5, 2017, failed to yield a good result.
The civic body even tried to sell blue and green dustbins at a discounted price but was only able to sell 150 units. The scheme had to be called off.
An awareness drive was initiated in schools to motivate students to adopt the garbage segregation system as well. Though the MC’s target was to encompass 55 schools, only five could be persuaded.
SEGREGATION BEGAN IN THREE SECTORS FIRST
At first, the MC began segregation in three sectors of Mohali—Phases 9, 10 and 3A. But here some residents have started segregating the waste, but it is done by the garbage collectors. Even in the past six months, teams have been constituted comprising of sanitary inspectors and chief sanitary inspectors, who were educating the residents to adopt garbage segregation at source religiously.
ACTION PLAN OF MC
While chalking out an action plan as per solid waste management rules, 2016, the MC has identified 62 such pockets which generate 30 kilograms of garbage on a daily basis.
According to the plan, earlier, pockets generating 100kg or more garbage were considered bulk waste generating pockets but with the new rules, 30kg has been set the limit.
