Door-to-door garbage collection in commercial areas from tomorrow

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, March 30

The UT Municipal Corporation has identified 108 points from where door-to-door garbage collection in commercial areas of the city will start from April 1. This facility is currently available in residential areas.

As per the MC, garbage collection will take place at 108 points. If some areas still remain unattended due to teething issues, these will also be covered soon. Waste collection in Industrial Area was started last month and some of the left-out areas will also be covered from April 1, say officials.

The MC expects to depute around 100 twin-bin vehicles in a phased-manner as it is expected to engage more manpower and resources from the Mani Majra area, where a private agency is going to take over sanitation in the coming days. At present, there is no organised system for collection of waste in commercial areas. Waste dumps can often be seen in parking lots or rear of markets. Overflowing bins are also commonplace.

Officials say the twin-bin vehicles will visit different places to collect garbage. At places with narrow spaces where vehicles cannot reach, waste collectors will move around to collect garbage.

Officials feel the new system will not only improve collection and waste management in commercial areas, but also add to the revenue, which has thus far remained unrealised. For the service, the MC will collect charges from commercial establishments through property tax annually. This is being done since a majority of commercial places lack water connection. Waste charges from domestic users are, otherwise, taken through water bills.

Minimising wet waste

• MC has mandated reduction of total wet waste generated in the city at bulk generators’ level. Hotels and restaurants are supposed to process own wet waste
• Bulk waste generators such as schools, colleges, hospitals have to go in for in-house processing
• It is must for 2 kanal houses to adopt home composting; most big MC parks have pits to make manure from dry leaves

To pay Rs 150 to Rs 5,000/month

The charges for commercial entities will vary between Rs 150 and Rs 5,000 per month. The UT Administrator recently slashed charges in most of the categories across rural and urban areas. But those for bus stand, railway station, theatres, malls and clubs have been increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per month.

Will generate revenue

This will not only improve collection and waste management in commercial areas but also add to revenue, which has thus far remained unrealised. — An MC official