Solid waste management still remains uphill task in Malerkotla

Solid waste management has remained an uphill task in almost all localities of the city and three subdivisions of Malerkotla, Amargarh and Ahmedgarh, even as officials deployed under the Swachh Bharat Mission had been submitting satisfactory reports to their seniors in the past.

Lack of dumping place, failure to get ban on single-use plastics implemented in letter and spirit and disproportionate employment of safai sewaks in relation to increase in area and population of the town have been cited as major factors behind the poor disposal of garbage in the region.

Lack of concern among elected members of the municipal council and government personnel in civic bodies towards sensitising residents about the need of segregation of garbage before disposal and reducing generation of non-biodegradable solid waste were found to be major factors behind the alleged pitiable condition of cleanliness.

Legacy waste management is also another hiccup in solving long-pending issues faced by almost all civic bodies. Observations revealed that guidelines of the Swachh Bharat Mission and National Green Tribunal regarding solid waste management were not being implemented in letter and spirit at either of the localities of the region due to various factors.

Accumulation of improperly managed waste over many years in landfills and dumpsites has resulted in a situation, wherein civic bodies are finding it difficult to find new spaces for dumping of garbage that usually is a mix of various materials, including decomposed matter, plastics and construction debris, posing environmental and health risks due to improper storage and lack of scientific approach.

Though material recovery facility (MRF) and plastic recovery facility centres had been established by almost all urban local bodies, the desired outcome is rarely achieved due to interference and opposition of local leaders of opposition parties.

Acknowledging the tendency, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Sukhpreet Singh Sidhu claimed that coordinated action had already been initiated. “Having identified the legacy waste as the offensive factor in regularising routine solid waste management, we got freed 2 acres under garbage by removing 55 MT waste,” claimed Sidhu. He added that government personnel associated directly with the Swachh Bharat Mission were further advised to rope in elected councillors and social activists in sensitising residents about the need to generate minimum possible garbage and segregate the solid waste before being collected by workers of the Sanitation Department.

Sidhu said executive officers at Malerkotla, Amargarh and Ahmedgarh had been advised to realise that besides making maximum use of all resources available with them, they must rope in elected councillors and office-bearers of social organisations for spreading awareness about the need of segregating solid waste at point of generation before being collected by the workers of the Sanitation Department.