Panchkula MC launches drive to better Swachh ranking

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, February 3

To improve the rankings in the Swachh Surveskshan-2022, the Panchkula Municipal Corporation (MC) today launched a cleanliness campaign, “Mera Panchkula, Meri Pehchan”, which aims for segregation of liquid and solid waste, encouraging home composting and ensuring a ban on single-use plastic.

Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal, in presence of all 20 councillors, flagged off an auto-rickshaw equipped with a public address system. The publicity vehicle will visit all wards of the city to exhort citizens to do their bit for a cleaner, greener Panchkula.

A Swachhta application was also relaunched to support the campaign. This mobile application would enable ordinary citizens to bring civic issues into the notice of the MC.

“If any citizen spots a pile of garbage, a complaint can be launched about it on the application. In response, the MC officials concerned would ensure it is cleared immediately,” said Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal.

From now on, besides educational institutions, hospitals and parks, residents of the cleanest kothis (in various categories as per the area) will also be honoured by the civic body.

The MC will also conduct raids on shops to put an end to single-use plastic usage.

Meanwhile, the MC has already announced to hand over the work of door-to-door collection, segregation and transportation of garbage to a private firm to revamp its waste collection system. Three firms have expressed interest in the work.

Panchkula had slipped to the 99th position in the Swachh Survekshan-2021, registering a significant fall from 81st a year before in the category of one to 10 lakh population.

After faring poorly in the annual cleanliness ranking, the MC pledged to take measures, including improvement in the inefficient garbage collection system currently managed by private waste collectors.

Local residents had also blamed the unscientific dumping of waste and the absence of a waste management plant at the Jhuriwala dumping ground for the city’s deterioration in cleanliness rankings.

Notably, the National Green Tribunal recently directed a joint committee of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, the Chief Conservator of Forest and the District Magistrate, Panchkula, to submit a compliance report on the “unscientific dumping of waste” at the Jhuriwala site despite its earlier order against environmental violations.

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