BMC may stop collecting garbage from 23,161 Mumbai societies that don’t segregate waste

Mumbai city news: The civic body has sent the societies notices, but there will be no legal action

The civic body means business when it comes to segregation of dry and wet waste. Between January and June this year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued notices to 23,161 housing societies for not following the mandatory rule, data revealed.

The most notices were issued in the H/West ward (Bandra) — 5,328. (HT File Photo)

Of these, the most — at 5,328 — were issued in the H/West ward (Bandra) followed by the R/Central ward (Borivli), where officials issued 4,771 notices to housing societies.

While there will be no legal action, the civic body may decide to stop picking up garbage from these housing societies.

To reduce the burden on the city’s saturated dumping grounds at Mulund, Deonar and Kanjurmarg, the BMC made it mandatory for societies to segregate waste they generate. While wet waste is expected to be converted to compost, the dry waste can be given to the BMC or sold to a scrap dealer.

The BMC has also issued 3,365 notices in the G/South ward (Parel) and 2,345 notices in the G/North ward (Dadar) in the first six months of 2017.

The notices were issued under section 368 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act.

The civic body has been facing flak over its ineffective waste management plan from the Bombay high court (HC). A civic official from the solid waste management department of the BMC said, "While many housing societies have started taken up segregation seriously, we have a long way to go. We even tell the societies that the waste will not be picked up from their premises if it is not segregated."

The court has also set a deadline of June 30, 2017 for the BMC to discontinue dumping garbage at Mulund and Deonar. However, officials have confirmed they are likely to submit an affidavit seeking an extension from the court.

Mumbai generates close to 9,500 metric tonnes of waste everyday, of which around 3,000 metric tonnes of waste is treated scientifically at the Kanjurmarg dumping ground. The civic body is in the process of acquiring land at Taloja and Airoli on which waste can be processed.