Patiala civic body begins use of MRF centres for waste segregation

Patiala, May 31

After more than two years of construction, the Municipal Corporation, Patiala, has finally started utilising its material recovery facilities (MRF) centres for segregation of wet and dry wastes in the city. The MC had constructed six centres in 2019 with a capacity of managing around 10 tonnes of waste each day.

Municipal Corporation officials said, “The city produces around 135 tonnes of household waste every day. The waste is supposed to be segregated at source but people do not pay any heed to it. Now, the MC has started a pilot project in four wards of the city.”

They said, “Along with this, the corporation has also started using MRF centres for segregation of waste which is dumped in an unsegregated manner. The waste is brought to the MRF centre where it is segregated by MC staff. Right now the process of segregation is being carried out on a war footing at one MRF centre at Focal Point. The corporation has managed to prepare compost out of the waste.”

MC Commissioner Aaditya Uppal said, “We have six MRF centres being run by the corporation in the city. We are paying daily visits to areas of the city to ensure proper segregation of waste every morning. Today, we visited Ghuman Nagar where the garbage was collected, segregated and compost was prepared from wet waste.”

The corporation had constructed the MRF centres in 2019. Insiders said, “The MRF centres have been lying unused since. The waste is being dumped at the dumpsite on the Sanaur Road. All MRF centres will be used to segregate the waste and prepare compost from it.”

Single-use plastic products, including polythene bags and other items continue to be stored and used in the city. The corporation has recently carried out a drive to check the misuse of the banned products. Insiders said, “Plastic polythene bags have been banned only on paper. They continue to be stored, sold and used in the city.”