MC taking extensive steps to improve solid waste mgmt: Mayor

Highlighting major steps being taken to improve solid waste management in the city, including bio-remediation of legacy waste and installation of static compactors, Mayor Inderjit Kaur said the Swachh Survekshan ranking would improve significantly next year.

Addressing a press conference in this regard along with the MC Additional Commissioner Paramdeep Singh and other officials of the civic body, the Mayor said the city secured 39th rank (among cities with population above 10 lakh) in the Swachh Survekshan conducted for 2024-25. But after the inspection held under the survekshan, many things had already changed and residents would witness a major positive change in coming days.

Under the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25, the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, scored 97 per cent in terms of cleanliness of residential areas, 89 per cent in door-to-door collection of waste and 93 per cent for cleanliness of market areas. The city has scored 53 per cent in cleanliness of public toilets and 50 per cent for cleanliness of water bodies as various steps have been taken to clean the Buddha Dariya too.

She said door-to-door collection of waste, source segregation of garbage and cleanliness across the city would further improve in coming days as many projects were being implemented at the ground level.

The project for bio-remediation of legacy waste was already going on at a fast pace and heaps of garbage at the main dump site of the MC on the Tajpur road would soon be a thing of the past. Under the first phase of the project, over 4.5 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste, out of the total 5 lakh MT, has already been disposed of through bioremediation. The contract for the second phase of the project, wherein around 20 lakh MT of waste has to be disposed of, has also been awarded. Around 9 acres of land has been freed from waste at the main dump site of the civic body.

Officials said the bioremediation of 2.19 lakh MT of legacy waste at the Jainpur dump site of the civic body was also going on at a fast pace.

Further, the project for processing of 1,100 MT of fresh waste generated in the city has already been launched and the fresh waste is being processed on a daily basis. The project to process fresh waste aims to ensure that garbage does not accumulate at the dump site again.

Officials said a number of other initiatives had also been taken to improve solid waste management in the city, including installation of static compactors, to stop open dumping of garbage in the city. The responsibilities of sanitary inspectors (SI) among other officials of the health branch had been fixed to ensure cleanliness on main roads and internal parts of the city.

Further orders had also been issued to stop street vendors from littering. Orders had been issued for placing wet and dry dustbins near vends. They had been directed to ensure that no garbage/waste was dumped around their vends, otherwise challans of up to Rs 2,000 would be issued against them and FIRs would also be registered over repeated violations.

The construction and demolition (C&D) waste processing plant has also been commissioned in the city to recycle the C&D waste and a sealing drive has been launched against illegal slaughtering.

The Mayor appealed to the public that they should also support the civic body in its efforts to improve solid waste management. The residents should hand over segregated dry and wet waste to garbage collectors. Further the residents should stop dumping waste in open spaces/plots to keep the city clean.