Relief for upper floor residents as Chandigarh MC approves door-to-door garbage collection

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has approved a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with door-to-door waste collectors, aiming to improve waste management in the city. For the first time, waste collectors will be required to collect garbage from upper floors of residential buildings without charging any extra money.

The new Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the Municipal Corporation and the garbage collector has been approved by the general House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation today. 

Currently, garbage collectors in Chandigarh pick waste only from the ground floor, forcing residents of higher floors to bring it down. This was causing lot of problems to the senior citizens. The residents living on the upper floors have been demanding for long to make arrangement for the collection from the upper floors.

Key features of the new MoU:

• Door-to-Door Collection: Waste collectors will collect garbage from every floor of residential buildings, addressing the long-standing issue of residents having to carry waste to the ground floor.
• Biometric Attendance: Waste collectors will be required to mark their attendance using biometric systems to ensure regularity and accountability.

Penalties for non-compliance:

• Rs 500 fine for not collecting segregated waste from every residential unit
• Rs 100 fine for not collecting waste from upper floors
• Rs 100 fine for misbehaving with residents

Welfare measures:

• Uniforms
• Timely salaries
• Insurance
• Annual health checkups
• Leaves

Working hours and conditions:

• Waste collectors will work from 7 am to 2 pm, six days a week
• They can take the help of an additional worker only if servicing more than 300 households
• Collectors will have to nominate a substitute to take over duties in case of illness or death

Duties for the waste collector: 

• Collect dry waste, wet waste, sanitary waste, domestic hazardous waste and plastic waste from every residential/dwelling unit
• Collect waste from every floor of a building
• Collect waste on six days a week, Monday to Saturday
• Intimate the area Sanitary Inspector about residential/dwelling units not segregating waste as per rules
• Ensure challaning of units not segregating waste through the area Sanitary Inspector
• Inform the area Sanitary Inspector if any house is locked or under construction, preventing waste collection
• Not segregate, dump, or store garbage in any open area or at the SSK Centre
• Not leave the designated collection area until all collected waste has been successfully lifted by the door-to-door vehicle
• Maintain a courteous and respectful behaviour when interacting with residents and Municipal Corporation staff
• Not demand any money from residents
• Participate in IEC activities organised by Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, to promote waste segregation and public awareness
• Replace helpers in case of persistent complaints or prolonged absence with intimation to Authority

The new MoU aims to improve waste management in Chandigarh and make the city cleaner and more hygienic. The Municipal Corporation has taken a significant step towards achieving this goal by making door-to-door waste collection more efficient and accountable.

MC had signed a first MoU with 926 door-to-door garbage collectors individually, from January 1, 2021 to December 12, 2022. The said MoU has been extended time and again ever since.