Failure to increase garbage fee costs Solan MC crores
Ambika Sharma
Tribune News Service
Solan, August 7
The Solan Municipal Corporation has been losing crores annually as it has not revised garbage collection charges for several years. Though the issue had figured in the agenda of several general house meetings of the civic body, including the one held a few days ago, it could not be approved due to the lack of unanimity among councillors.
A section of councillors opined that any move to hike the charges would earn them the ire of residents and they would suffer in the ensuing byelection to three wards.
There were about 12,000 households in 17 wards of the civic body from where garbage was collected on alternate days. As many as 161 employees collect and transport the waste in 12 vehicles in three trips to Salogra-based waste processing facility.
Arrears to the tune of over Rs 50 lakh were yet to be realised from the residents on account of garbage disposal charges. The MC was now crediting the amount into the property tax bills.
“While a sum of Rs 6 crore is annually incurred on garbage collection, transportation and processing, the charges collected are nearly Rs 1 crore,” admits Ekta Kapta, Solan MC Commissioner. A household has to pay Rs 50 per month and commercial establishment Rs 100 for the door-to-door garbage collection. “The charges for commercial establishments have, however, been revised recently,” added Kapta.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has recently taken a stern view of the shoddy garbage management in the urban local bodies and issued strict directions to the state government to ensure proper management.
The councillors are also being imparted training at the Himachal Institute of Public Administration, Shimla, where they are being apprised of the provisions under the municipal laws as well as environmental laws for proper implementation. With limited funds available for garbage management, garbage can be seen strewn around at several places on roadsides.
The MC can depute more staff and ensure a cleaner town if it has more funds at its disposal. Nearly 10-15 tonnes of solid waste is generated on a daily basis in the town.
The high court has also directed the constitution of dedicated teams under the supervision of councillors to eliminate garbage hotspots and avoid the creation of new hotspots. Apart from penalising violators, the court has directed the urban local bodies to employ adequate manpower and ensure that the non-availability of funds does not hinder garbage disposal.
