The journey of waste generated at your residence does not necessarily end at the landfill site.
Depending on the mood of Lucknow Municipal Corporation staff, the waste could be dumped at a plot in a nearby colony, inside a drain/big nullah, along a roadside or on the outskirts of the city. This happens because there’s no proper monitoring by the LMC officials.
“The system of waste collection and disposal has collapsed and Lucknow may be hit by diseases in the rainy season as a good percentage of filth is being dumped in the city itself,” said five-time corporator Girish Mishra.
He said, “Only 30% of the waste reaches the landfill site, while 70% is dumped on roads, lanes, empty plots, big nullahs and outskirts of city. This happens with the connivance of officials, sanitation staff and waste collectors. These people make money while the residents are exposed to diseases.”
Environmentalist and former deputy director Geological Survey of India Virendra Kumar Yadav said, “Municipal solid waste (MSW) is an essential by-product of everyday living. Lucknow produces around 1,500 metric tons of solid waste per day. Thus, the management of solid waste in an effective manner is essential but in Lucknow nothing is working, the system has crashed and city is sitting on an epidemic bomb.”
Yadav further said: “Ideally, solid waste should not touch the ground. The concept of door-to-door collection is for not allowing residents to throw waste on the road but to hand it over to waste collectors, who should put it in their compact vehicles. These vehicles should carry the waste to the transfer station, from where big compact trucks can carry waste to the landfill site for treatment and recycling.”
{{/usCountry}}Yadav further said: “Ideally, solid waste should not touch the ground. The concept of door-to-door collection is for not allowing residents to throw waste on the road but to hand it over to waste collectors, who should put it in their compact vehicles. These vehicles should carry the waste to the transfer station, from where big compact trucks can carry waste to the landfill site for treatment and recycling.”
{{/usCountry}}“In Lucknow there are 110 wards, but LMC cannot claim to have ensured 100 per cent waste collection in any ward. Also, a large part of the collected waste is dumped on roads, in lanes and nullahs. This makes the city dirty and its ranking in sanitation has nosedived.”
Ghaila village on the outskirts of the city is been a big example of LMC apathy where the municipal body has created mountains of waste without treating it.
Lucknow getting 115th position in national sanitation index is an example of officials taking things lightly. This fact was accepted by Pankaj Bhushan, city environment engineer of LMC.
Bhushan said, “Eco Green, the company entrusted with the door-to-door waste collection work is not performing well. LMC has lost out a lot because of this when it comes to sanitation ranking. Now, the authorities’ are thinking seriously about roping in another company with Eco Green for proper collection of waste from every home.”
He added: “For a city like Lucknow, with a population of around 40 lakh, only one landfill site at Shivri, spread in just 46 acres, is not enough. LMC needs at least two more such sites in the next ten years.”
However, he said that the government has promised all the help in this regard.