Cong unveils waste mgmt roadmap

Ananya Panda

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 26

Eyeing a comeback in the national capital, the Congress today putting its best foot forward proposed an “incentive-based” solid waste management plan with which it promised to make the three municipal corporations “financially self-reliant” in two years.

The Congress blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for the sanitation crisis faced by the city and in process came all out to convince people to opt for it ahead of the civic polls slated for April 23.

Pitching for their party’s prospects, top guns of the party, including MPs, former union minister Jairam Ramesh and P C Chacko, besides AICC secretary Kuljit Nagra, DPCC chief Ajay Maken and Sharmistha Mukherjee, were on one platform to unveil the party’s draft roadmap for solid waste management, as a part of which it announced incentives for residents and tax rebate on commercial properties.

This came exactly a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s sop of abolishing house tax and waiving off arrears on the same.

Giving details of the Congress’ plan — anchored by former Sanitation and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh — Maken took a dig at the Kejriwal-led party and the BJP saying, “We are giving realistic solutions which are doable. They are neither tall promises nor for mere vote bank politics.”

“We are offering solutions suggested through a three-pronged approach — decentralization of waste processing and management with focus on localised efforts, awareness and incentivisation to promote citizen participation and making the civic bodies financially surplus in two years,” said Maken even as he himself adopting the rhetoric route said the Congress’ roadmap suggests how to take Delhi to a next level of governance, turning the capital “green, clean and disease-free”.

With focus on environment, the Congress proposed a zero landfill policy, distribution of free blue and green bins to households for waste segregation and promotion of tree plantation as a part of its clean and green Delhi agenda for the municipal polls.

In its draft sanitation policy, the Congress with an aim to strike a chord with the residents has announced a common minimum plan of action at ward level under which safety audit will be conducted for women and children who use public toilets, each ward will be required to plant a definite number of trees before the onset of monsoon with non-adherence inviting fines and voice community forums will be formed in slums, unauthorised colonies and resettlement colonies in the city.

“For decentralisation our focus is on localised efforts. Our corporations will give red and green bins to households and children will be roped in to manage. We are not giving laptops and cycles (in a veiled attack on Madhya Paradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan). Local compost machines to be installed in partnership with RWAs,” said Maken while announcing incentives for proper waste management.

For residential areas the Congress proposes to introduce a unique “score card” system on the basis of an independent agency’s assessment to decide on tax rebate or incentives after mapping each ward to four sub-zones while incentives and tax rebates will be offered to group housing societies, hospitals and malls for proper waste management.