Absence of waste management plant may affect city’s cleanliness ranking

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 12

With the failure of the government to set up a solid waste management plant in the city, officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC) are worried that the non-availability of the plant and garbage segregation system will affect the score of the city in the Swachh City ranking.

A team of the Central Government for Swachh Sarvekshan (cleanliness survey) 2018 is expected to arrive within a few days. The MC has been making efforts on all the components of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to improve its ranking this time.

The solid waste management plant is one of the major political issues in the city. The Congress government in the state had promised to set up the plant, but it has so far failed to acquire the land for the plant.

At a recent meeting, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu stated that he had instructed the Deputy Commissioner (DC) to search for the land for the project.

Sidhu had said that a chunk of land 40 km away from the city was an option for the government but the transportation of the waste would make it a costly affair so the idea was dropped. The Local Bodies Department has written to forest officials, demanding land, but the latter hasn’’t replied yet.

The non-availability of solid waste management plant would be the major reason in case the city takes a further plunge on the clean city list.

As per the Swachh Sarvekshan norms, the team awards maximum number for the solid waste management plant and segregation of the garbage. Ironically, the city is lacking on both fronts.

Dr Raju Chowan, Municipal Health Officer, said, “We have good infrastructure for sanitation in the city but we don’t have a solid waste management plant. So the city’s ranking will suffer. We will score well on other components of Swachh Bharat”.

He also urged the residents to install the Swachtta app in their mobile phones as it will increase the city’s Swachhta score.