Provide bins before penalising societies, BJP tells civic body

Corporators from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday criticised the civic body for its “arbitrary moves” as it opposed the latter’s decision to take action against citizens who fail to segregate waste.

Corporators from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday criticised the civic body for its “arbitrary moves” as it opposed the latter’s decision to take action against citizens who fail to segregate waste.

Manoj Kotak, BJP group leader in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on Thursday placed a point of order in the civic standing committee. It demanded that before penalising citizens, the BMC should provide housing societies with easily accessible bins and that adequate litter bins be installed across the city.

“The BMC has announced its plan to send notices to housing societies to segregate their waste and if they do not adhere to these directives, the societies may also face prosecution. But the BMC must first put its own separate transportation and disposal systems for dry and wet waste in place,” said Kotak.

The Cleanliness and Sanitation Bylaws, 2006, mandate segregation at source by every citizen and setting up of infrastructure by the municipal body to collect segregated waste.

Kotak added that the BMC had no mechanism to dispose of dry and wet waste separately and that it eventually mixes the segregated garbage and dumps all waste at dumping grounds.

Dilip Patel, another BJP corporator from Andheri, said: “By recycling dry waste that is generated in the city, the BMC can itself earn revenue from it. It must work towards achieving this instead of spending heavily on the waste management system and penalising citizens”.

The BMC is likely to soon identify and encourage housing societies in the city, which have space within their premises, to set up compost plants to ensure decentralised management of waste.