Suvidha kendras set to replace safai centres in Chandigarh

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, May 12

Soon, you will be able to lodge complaints about issues related to street lights, water supply or sanitation at facilities near your residence. The Municipal Corporation is going to revamp all 41 Sehaj Safai Kendras (SSKs) into Sehaj Suvidha Kendras.

To begin with, the MC will demolish 10 SSKs and build facilities for addressing people’s grievances. The rest of the centres have already been demolished.

“Since there is no need to segregate waste at the SSKs or dump trash there, we are going to do away with all of these centres. These places meant for dumping garbage will be built into neat and clean complaint centres for local residents,” said an official.

Local residents to benefit

People will have easy access to complaint centres. Staff of local electrical, public health and sanitation wings will be deployed there and they will work under the supervision of a Junior Engineer. —An official

“There will be less response time to the complaints. People will have easy access. Staff of local electrical, public health and sanitation wings will be deployed at these centres and they will work under the supervision of a Junior Engineer,” added the official.

The MC will also put forth agenda regarding the plan in a House meeting to be held this month.

The SSKs were used to segregate waste. Since the corporation has decided to have three material recovery facilities (MRFs), these centres have become redundant. The civic body hopes to repurpose all SSKs within six months. The three MRFs are functional in Industrial Area, Phase I (MC store in front of the CTU workshop), Industrial Area, Phase II (3BRD) and in Sector 25.

Earlier, door-to-door waste collectors used to lift garbage from households and drop it at SSKs, from where trash was taken to the waste processing plant by MC vehicles.

Under the existing system, vehicles lift garbage from houses and unload it at the three MRFs. From there, wet and dry waste is transported to the garbage processing plant in Dadu Majra.

Earlier, local residents often raised the issue of poor sanitation around the SSKs.

What made facilities redundant

The Sehaj Safai Kendras (SSKs) were used to segregate waste brought by door-to-door collectors. Since the corporation now has three material recovery facilities (MRFs), to which trash is transported through new vehicles, these centres have become redundant. The civic body hopes that all SSKs will be converted into complaint centres within six months.