Segregation goes waste on launch day in Chandigarh

The much-awaited waste segregation project saw a setback on the first day itself with the secondary collection points failing to make necessary arrangements.

Though not all residents gave waste in a segregated form, the private garbage collectors did manage to keep them separated in their manual karts from where ever they received it. But it proved to be a futile exercise as it all got mixed up at MC’s Sehaj Safai Kendras (secondary collection points), where the private collectors went to offload their karts.

When the HT team visited the Sector 9 SSK in the morning, it found that there were no bins and the collectors unloaded whatever waste they had on the ground. Sector 27 and 49 SSKs too had no facility to receive waste in segregated form from garbage collectors.

This even as MC commissioner KK Yadav had promised at least two big bins at every SSK so that segregated waste delivered by garbage collectors can be unloaded separately in each one of them before transporting them to the processing facility.

MAJORITY OF SSKs WERE ALREADY OVERLOADED

The level of preparation by MC’s sanitation department can gauged from the fact that it did not even bother to check the waste pendency of previous days as was seen at the Sector 8 SSK. Sumit, a waste collector, said that since there was no place to unload his dry and wet waste, he had to dump it on the ground. Later an MC compactor came and the staff accompanying it picked it all together, he said. At the Sector 45 SSK too, there was similar problem.

Anil Kumar, a private garbage collector in Sector 47, said they followed directions and put a plank in their cart to separate dry waste from wet waste, and residents also gave them segregated waste but their efforts went down the drain as the collection centres weren’t on board.

In Sector 34 and Sector 10, where there are no SSKs, and bins are placed in the open. The bin which was kept in the open opposite the Sector 34 police station, was uncovered, and garbage was seen lying in an unsegregated inside them

DELAY IN RETURNING FROM PROCESSING FACILITY

In Sector 47 SSK, once garbage collectors unloaded their wet and dry waste in different bins, the tippers took the bins to the processing plant. But as the tippers carrying the bins returned after over five hours, due to long queue at the plant, the garbage collectors who came for the second round of offloading had to discard the garbage on the ground.

“It is obvious that garbage collectors won’t wait for more than 10 minutes. Waste could not be kept in segregated form when garbage collectors again delivered waste at SSK,” said an MC worker.

NOT ALL COLLECTORS ASKED FOR

There were areas where even waste collectors did not press for segregation. Sector 35 residents’ welfare association chairman JS Gogia said, “The collectors didn’t ask us for segregated waste. Some of us did it by ourselves, and the collectors kept the waste in separate bags. However, they don’t insist that we segregate it.”

GOT DEAD ANIMALS IN WASTE: PLANT OPERATOR

NK Vohra, manager of the waste processing plant run by Jaypee group, said the plant received dead animals along with the waste delivered by MC vehicles. MC must ensure proper segregation so that we can increase efficiency of the plant, he said

OUR SYSTEM NOT PERFECT, NO CHALLANS TILL WE IMPROVE IT: MAYOR

Mayor Rajesh Kalia said the MC was not well prepared in secondary collection points as sanitation department didn’t seem to have done its job properly. “I will call a meeting on Monday to have a detailed meeting on strengthening the MC’s system. Till that time, MC will not challan anyone for not segregation waste,” he said.

Medical officer health Dr Amrit Warring said the system had some shortcomings. “We will sit with our superiors on Monday and take requisite steps to improve it. The main focus will be on streamlining the working at secondary collection points,” he added.