MC’s ‘Name and shame’ scheme to keep Shimla litter-free

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 26

In a new initiative taken to keep the city clean and green, Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) has launched a “name and shame” scheme to deal with offenders who dump garbage at 10 hotspots. The scheme will make use of “live streaming” feature through CCTV cameras installed at the locations. Now the wrongdoings will be live streamed on the big LED screen on The Ridge to expose the offenders before the public.

“The scheme has produced encouraging results at the Panchayat Bhawan location on the Cart Road, which earlier used to be a source of nuisance as residents dumped garbage there,” said Pankaj Rai, Municipal Commissioner, SMC. This place is now litter-free. “We have now extended live streaming to 10 other hotspots through CCTV cameras connected to the MC office to check littering of public places in the city,” he added.

The garbage littering is not only marring the beauty of the city, but it is also contaminating stream and ground water in the city.

The MC officials can spot the offenders dumping the garbage in public places and a team is dispatched to catch the person, said Rai. “We have caught two persons,” he added.

Rai said the live streaming had become effective to check illegal dumping. “The real time images of the locations will be beamed on the LED screen kept at The Ridge from time to time, which will educate locals and tourists not to litter wrappers or throw plastic here and there,” he added.

The SMC has made it mandatory for its staff and officers to put in place the “poly brick,” Rai said.

“The idea is to prevent the littering of the city slopes by the waste material,” said Rai. “Ragpickers will collect these bottles and we will buy these at Rs 15 per kg from them and dispose these off in the recycling waste –to- energy plant at Bharyal,” he said.

The SMC has started a scheme for the ragpickers, who will earn a living and the city will become plastic free. “We are buying plastic waste of every kind from the ragpickers for which the MC House has given its nod on May 13,” he said.

Rai said the ragpickers get Rs 10 or Rs 12 per kg from the private ‘kabadis’. They are getting more and will be encouraged to collect more. Eventually, the city will be free from the garbage menace, he added.

To facilitate the management of plastic waste, the MC has set collection centres at designated places in each ward office.

“We are also trying to segregate waste at source in the house-to-house waste collection programme to make the city kachra-mukt,” said the MC officials.