No More Wet Waste Collection, Now What?

Agenda Pune - Waste Segregation
Image used for representation only

 

#Pune365Agenda 1 -Imposing penalties and issuing noticed to several commercial establishments and housing societies for not managing their garbage effectively have obviously not helped..

Civic authorities in Pune and PCMC seem to be all set to  take charge and issue notifications and leave the problem to the citizens who will now need to grapple with this reality.

With over 23,449 tonne of solid waste generated daily in urban areas, Maharashtra is the country’s biggest waste generator.

In a first to recycle 1,500 tonne of waste the city produces every day, civic authorities have decided to let citizens manage their own wet waste.

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will soon stop collecting wet waste from housing societies, hotels, colleges, restaurants and other bulk garbage generators. From the new financial year, bulk waste generators will have to install their own wet waste management system within their premises to process the waste they generate.

Although this is a welcome move, keeping in mind the resources the authorities are going to save on segregation, transportation and its processing, citizens have raised some valid concerns regarding this move to make the city ‘Zero Waste’.

“I know that with recent clashes over the garbage dumping grounds in the outskirts of the city, the authorities have decided to have people accountable for their generated wet waste.. But for restaurants that have been segregating and dumping their wet waste responsibly, it is a new task to deal with,” says an owner of a restaurant at Lulla Nagar.

“Currently, we don’t have any space available to make use of the garbage we produce. If tomorrow we are put in this situation, it will only increase our hardships,” he exclaims.

The recently notified Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016 that replaces the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) (MSWM) Rule 2000, also notifies individuals to process their own wet waste.

Colonel (Retd) Shashikant Dalvi, an environmentalist expresses his firm support with the authorities on this welcoming move. “I feel that this was much needed, considering the effective implementation of the MSWM rule 2000, which says that every individual is liable to handle his own waste. People have been violating the orders of the Supreme Court.

Every individual on an average produces around 600 grms of domestic waste per day amounting to nearly 350 grms of wet waste, that can be easily disposed of.

“Given the mentality of the people, some might skip adhering to this norm of the PCMC and will find various methods to violate the law and make things easy for them.

Having said so, the authorities need to take stern action like heavy fine for the violators. Violators should be fined heavily with a minimum fine of INR 5000. Housing societies should be checked for composting pits to encourage people to dump their recyclable waste in it. Also, authorities should keep a check on how and where the citizens are dumping their garbage,” he adds.

In the attempt to raise awareness, the authorities have also felicitated housing societies with Certificates of Appreciation for their remarkable contribution to the efforts to implement the Swachh Bharat Mission in Pune.

“In Lunkad Greeland II, Vimannagar, we have made it a point that no wet waste goes out of the society. We have been doing this since the year 2009 with a perfectly managed composting pit, the manure out of which is either used in the compound garden or by individual flat owners,” says Colonel Dalvi.

“Although this might seem applauding enough for some, is this practically possible?” argues Zeenat Vohra, an entrepreneur. “I am busy attending to clients and managing my life alongwith my family and work. I don’t think I will be getting time to nurture the compost until till turns into manure. The entire process of composting is not as easy as it seems.

What will I do with it?  Am I to keep it stinking in the corridor, until it is actually cured?

The logical solution would have been collecting the wet garbage and disposing it centrally, the compost out of which can be used by farmers, nursery owners or  interested people who are into  gardening,” she opines.

~~

#Pune365City – Yes, there are several other issues that need to be highlighted and we will work with you dear readers in the pursuit of resolution. Over the next few months, each issue will be taken up in micro detail to enable effective management.

We invite experts and informed citizens to write in to us at editorial@pune365.com with effective tips and solution based feedback.

We in turn, promise to highlight your thoughts and suggestions to make our city of Pune a far better place to live in…

#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.

 

Loveleen Kaur