In clean-up act, Chandigarh MC to give park litter job to private firm

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, November 24

In a first, collection and transportation of garbage from different public parks of the city is set to go into private hands.

The local Municipal Corporation is going to put up more than 3,700 twin dustbins in public parks across the city. At present, many public parks are without the required number of dustbins and there is no proper mechanism to lift the waste.

As a result, garbage can be seen dumped or scattered both inside and outside parks. To tackle this problem, the civic body has decided to hire an agency to fix responsibility for the job and get the work done in a professional manner.

The firm will not be responsible for the horticulture waste, most of which goes to the composting pits constructed inside the parks. The agency will have a dedicated job of lifting garbage from dustbins and transport it to city’s three waste stations.

“The MC has 1,800 parks/green belts in the city. It has been observed there is constant littering in parks as there are not enough dustbins. In an attempt to improve the Swachh Bharat Survekshan ranking, we are putting up 3,738 additional dustbins across the city parks. There are already 1,800 dustbins in parks,” says MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra.

Most of the 1,800 bins are concentrated in bigger parks such as Rose Garden. Even in other parks having bins, garbage is scattered due to lack of lifting.

“The corporation is giving out work for collection and transportation of waste from gardens and parks to a contractor. He will be bound to empty the dustbins in signature gardens daily and in low-footfall parks twice a week. The contractor will also wash the dustbins once a week. He will also be responsible for collecting scattered litter from the park,” added MC chief Anindita Mitra.

However, Kuldeep Singh Gill, president, Bright Residents’ Welfare Association, Sector 21-B, which maintains 12 public parks, says: “The job should be done by Municipal Corporation’s own waste-lifting vehicles that collect door-to-door garbage as they come daily. It will save funds. Putting up too many bins will not guarantee cleanliness, as residents sometimes dump kitchen waste in public parks.”

Currently, the Municipal Corporation’s Medical Officer of Health wing lifts waste from parks, but bins are often found overflowing and regular lifting is lacking in most of the parks.

3,700 twin bins for dry & wet waste

• 1,800 Parks/green belts in UT
• 1,800 Existing dustbins in parks
• 3,738 Additional twin bins (dry & wet) to be installed in parks

Daily lifting at signature gardens

• Contractor will lift bin garbage & clear scattered litter, shift it to city’s three waste stations
• Will empty bins in low-footfall parks twice a week & in signature gardens daily
• Will be responsible for washing bins once a week

Bid to improve ranking

It has been observed there is constant littering in parks as there aren’t enough dustbins. We are adding more bins in a bid to improve our Swachh Survekshan ranking — Anindita Mitra, MC Commissioner