Tepid response to waste segregation project

Tribune News Service

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Mohali, January 27

The Municipal Corporation’s project of segregation of waste at source, which was launched on a pilot basis in Sectors 70 and 71 in Mohali, has failed to take off.

On June 5, 2017 (World Environment Day), Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had launched the project in the district for segregation of waste into dry and wet in separate colour-coded bins — green for wet waste and blue for dry waste.

Despite giving a subsidy, the MC has sold only a few dustbins at a discounted price of Rs 94 for a pair of blue and green bins of 12 litres. More strikingly, of the 500 sets of bins that the civic body had purchased recently, only 35 pairs have been sold.

An MC official in the Sanitation Department said: “Some 60 odd pairs were sold initially. The problem is that people expect the bins to be given free of cost.”

Paramvir Singh, a resident of Phase II, said segregation is only possible if it is done at all points in the disposal chain, from collection by safai karamcharis to disposal at secondary points and finally at the dumping ground.

Harpal Singh, a safai karamchari, said waste was not being segregated.

“I am not even aware of any such project. We collect waste in the traditional way of lumping dry and wet waste together.”

Karam Singh Mavi, general secretary, RWA, Sector 69, said: “The project was just a publicity stunt. There is no segregation of waste. We had expressed interest in procuring the colour-coded dustbins for dry and wet waste, but MC officials said we would have to wait for some time since the bins were not of appropriate size.”

MC Chief Sanitary Inspector Harwant Singh said the project had received a tepid response.

“People demand covered dustbins with a capacity of at least 20 litres. The bins do not match their demands,” he said, adding that the corporation would try to create awareness among residents.

MC Commissioner Sandeep Hans said: “The segregation scheme has not worked out as planned. We are making efforts to promote it. But, it has to be a collective responsibility and requires a change in mindset of the public to adopt better methods of waste disposal.”