Thane improves in garbage-free rating; activists say efforts not enough
Thane has improved its ranking in the Central government’s assessment of garbage-free cities.
In the Star Rating of Garbage Free Cities’ survey for 2019-20, Thane bagged three stars – one up from last year’s two.
The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) cited improvement in garbage collection, increase in waste segregation and quick redressal of complaints for the improved ranking.
The cities were judged on cleanliness of drains and water bodies and management of plastic waste and debris. Solid waste management was one of the main parameters to award points.
A civic official, requesting anonymity, said, “Garbage is collected daily and segregated before being transported to the dumping ground. We have installed GPS on garbage collection vans for efficient work.”
The city generates more than 960 metric tonnes of garbage daily.
He added, “We have streamlined garbage collection and transport. The segregation in housing societies has increased from 50% to 80%. We have also placed litter bins, especially for plastic waste. The commercial areas are cleaned twice a day.”
TMC claimed it has addressed 75% of the complaints it has received on the Swacchh Bharat application.
Thane activists, however, said there is no improvement and that they can see garbage strewn at public places.
Milind Patankar, an activist, said, “TMC has merely put extra burden on citizens to treat waste. Waste treatment needs to be centralised or decentralised and should be undertaken by TMC which has the resources. Waste segregation has increased but the segregated waste is dumped into one van and taken to the dumping ground. Only wet waste should be collected daily while dry waste should be collected once a week.”
He added that a few months ago when his housing society called thermocol collection van, the TMC asked them to send the thermocol waste with the regular garbage van.
Another activist Chandrahas Tawade said, “The ranking comes as a surprise as we can still see heaps of garbage in the city. There are many initiatives, but all on paper. We are yet to see a satisfactory result.”