Waste management holds the key, say residents

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 23

The Municipal Corporation’s decision to install a weighing bridge at the garbage dumping site in Sector 23 has not gone down well with Panchkula residents. Some residents said a garbage treatment plant must be set up first.

The residents have time and again demanded that the corporation either shift the dumping ground site to some other area or take care of cleanliness there. Several residents complained that the MC failed to take steps to ensure that the people living around the area did not face any inconvenience because of the site.

On November 11, Mayor Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia had to Municipal Commissioner Lalit Siwach, urging him to install a weighing bridge at the dumping ground, which would increase Panchkula’s score in the “swachh survekshan” and enable the calculation of the total garbage generated in the district. A meeting was held regarding it on November 15. Current estimates suggest that around 16 lakh residents generate 100 tonnes of garbage daily.

Residents of Sectors 22-28 face problems of foul smell, houseflies and dirty drinking water as two tubewells are right next to the dumping ground. Residents have been requesting for long to shift the dumping ground to another location and the project of setting up a solid waste management plant on 12.5 acres in Jhuriwala village is hanging fire for a decade. The project is, howevers, being managed by HUDA.

The Executive Officer of the MC, OP Sihag, said, “Panchkula is the best in the state in managing garbage. This is one of the many steps to improve the system.”