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Waste segregation begins in Panchkula on September 2
National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Panchkula to ensure 100% compliance of Waste Management Rules by September 5
The long-awaited door-to-door segregated waste collection is set to start in Panchkula from September 2. Terming it a significant step in waste management, municipal officials said they have engaged the current waste collectors as authorised collectors for the drive.
The civic body also issued an order on Friday, in which it is mentioned that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Panchkula to ensure 100% compliance of Waste Management Rules — after being selected as a model city — by September 5.
MC commissioner-cum-administrator Rajesh Jogpal said residents are required to compulsorily segregate waste at household level and at commercial establishments into wet, dry and domestic hazardous waste (bio and sanitary). He said the civic body will manage door-to-door collection of waste and transport it to designated sites using e-rickshaws.
MC executive officer (EO) Jarnail Singh said that in a meeting held last week, representatives of informal waste collectors engaged in door-to-door collection agreed to collect waste in a segregated manner and place it at secondary collection point from where the civic body will carry it for processing. The civic body has also got 100 new carts for the project. There are around 800 waste collectors in the city.
“The order will be in force from Monday. Initially, we will start the drive with an awareness campaign for a few days, wherein pamphlets will be distributed and announcements will be made through loudspeakers in MC vehicles besides radio advertisements,” said the EO.
Non-compliance to invite penalty
Jogpal said residents will be penalised if they fail to hand over the waste in a segregated manner. Any non-compliance will be treated as disobedience of the NGT order and defaulters will be fined anywhere between ₹500 and ₹9,500 depending on the category.
“Strict action will be initiated for the violation of environmental protection rules,” the order further reads. Officials said monitoring teams of the MC will keep a check on violations and even waste collectors will be fined for non-compliance.
As far as collection charges are concerned, uniform rates have not been formalised yet. People will have to pay the existing charges, which vary from sector to sector.
MC officials said besides installing 300 twin bins (blue and green) at public places, MC has already distributed 48,000 twin bins to residents in Panchkula, Pinjore and Kalka. These are to be used for segregating waste.
As a pilot project, the drive was commenced in areas under Ward Numbers 14, 15 and 16 in July.
Where will the waste go
The segregated waste will be sent to the compost plant in Sector 12. The plant is in operation since October 2018. Another such project has come up at Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 4. The MC has also planned to set up more material recovery centres in the city. Currently, the garbage is being dumped at the dumping ground in Sector 23 and the city is still awaiting a solid waste management project, which is in limbo after a France-based company shelved it in July. The MC is also working to establish a biomining plant at the Sector 23 dumping ground to make majority of the garbage eco-friendly.
