E-Paper
Pune’s sanitation workers lack basic equipment, admits Swach
Non-profit organisation says PMC has not provided sanitation equipment for past 2 yrs
Swach, a non-profit organisation which works in the field of garbage lifting and segregation has a five year contract with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Although the contract was renewed in 2016, the PMC have not provided sanitation equipment to the organisation, for the past two years, said Aparna Susarla and Harshad Barde, directors of Swach.
They admitted that sanitation workers in the city suffer from absence of basic facilities at the garbage sorting centres established by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
“Sanitation workers, especially women, do not have basic necessities like toilets and drinking water,” said, Susarala when asked about the absence of basic facilities for sanitation workers in the city.
On April 23, Hindustan Times had reported how the garbage sorting shed at Balewadi managed by workers from Swach did not have toilets and drinking water facilities for the nearly 35 workers, mostly women, employed there. The waste pickers complained that while they worked for more than eight hours at a stretch, there was inadequate sitting area, no toilet facility and no drinking water and the roof was also partially covered.
The buckets in which they did their sorting were broken and they were found working without gloves and footwear.
When asked about these gross deficiencies, Susrala said, “Swach was working for the waste pickers benefit and all that they could do was to fight for their rights and nothing beyond”.
“ We work with PMC on their behalf while the waste pickers work with the citizens. There is always hope that whatever demands we have put in will be accepted and will soon see release of funds as promised by the solid waste management department of PMC,” she said.
She said that Swach has a five year agreement with the PMC and all that it could do was follow-up with the PMC for the release of funds. “We also use corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding. However, we do not want CSR funding for what is municipal responsibility,” she said.
Sanitation staff needs equipment
Susrala said the waste pickers work in shifts from 6 am to 6pm. While some collect waste, others work in sorting sheds. For this, the workers need equipments like buckets, apron, raincoats, disinfectant soaps, hand gloves, masks and recyclable bags to collect the waste and pushcarts.
Under Swach, there are 3,541 sanitation workers who cater to eight lakh properties across the city. However, in some areas there are other private operators that don not come under the PMC.
Waste segregation in the city
According to Swach, some areas in the city have not accepted the concept of segregation waste. They are not keen to pay the sanitation workers even though the fees are nominal with Rs 65 for residential, Rs 130 for commercial and Rs 45 for slums (fees per month).
As many as 3,500 waste pickers are engaged in collecting 1,100 tonnes of waste per day from 8 lakh properties, out of which 200 tonnes is sent for recycling which is sorted in sorting sheds.
“We have only 68 sheds though we need 300 sorting sheds in the city. However, getting land for the shed is a problem. The PMC needs to acquire more land and build basic infrastructure for the sheds. We are hoping to have 75 sheds by the end of next month,” Barde said.
Swach model
According to the Swach directors, the waste collection and disposal model developed by the cooperative is energy-efficient and environmentally beneficial as Swach waste pickers recycle and reduce the quantity of waste sent to landfills.
“The model efficiently bridges a critical service-delivery gap while employing many of the city’s most vulnerable residents. The model helps incorporate informal waste pickers into municipal services across India,” said Barde.
He further added, “The Swach initiative began as a door-to-door waste picking service was a pilot programme which was launched in 2005 by Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat. The idea was to up-skill 1,500 workers and provide door-to-door waste collection services to 23 lakh residents. The organisation helped recycle five crore kgs of waste annually, cutting as much green house emissions, while saving the PMC Rs 100 crore every year in the process.
In 2008, we had a five year agreement with PMC until 2013. The contract was later renewed in 2016. As per the contract the PMC provides us with sanitation equipments, however, they have not provided us with any equipment for the past two years.”
Awards won by Swach
•The World Resources Institute (WRI) Ross Prize for cities has shortlisted the Swach model as one of the top five finalists that have ignited positive urban transformation.
•Awards won include INDO-SAN award from the Ministry of urban development (2016), Maharashtra Pradushan Mandal – Short film award (2013) and ICON SWM award for excellence in SWM (2012) among many others.
