Swachh Survekshan 2021: Poor waste management behind Ludhiana’s rank slip

Open dumping of garbage, failure to treat legacy waste, not achieving the ODF ++ certificate, improper functioning of sewer treatment plants (STPs), poor waste segregation are among the main reasons for the drop in city’s rankings in the Swachh Survekshan 2021.

Despite facing an National Green Tribunal (NGT) rap, the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) failed to commence different projects which have been in the pipeline for years. These include the installation of static compactors, processing of over 16 lakh metric tonnes of accumulated waste at the main dump site of MC on Tajpur Road etc.

Due to this, open dumping of garbage has been a blot on the image of the city. Over 1,100 metric tonne of garbage is generated in the city on a daily basis. There are around 40 open secondary dump sites in the city. The MC is working to install static compactors at open dump sites under the Smart City Project, but the project has not been started at the ground level. The garbage collected from households is dumped at secondary sites, from where it is shifted to the main dump site on Tajpur road. The civic body has also failed to impose a ban on plastic carry bags in the city. These were banned by the state in 2016.

With the three STPs in the city not working properly, the sewer and industrial waste continue to pollute the Buddha Nullah, the main drain of the city. The Nullah is further polluting the Sutlej river.

Further frequent fire incidents are reported at the main dump site of MC, adding to air pollution and seepage of liquid waste into groundwater. The fire incidents are reported due to generation of highly combustible methane gas at the landfill site. In the past, the NGT had also imposed penalties on the MC, but failed to improve the performance of the civic body.

The trouble increased for the MC after A2Z company self-terminated the contract of solid waste management in the city in the month of February. The MC had made stop-gap arrangements to continue lifting of garbage but the processing has come to a halt at the main dump site. The MC has still not floated tenders for hiring a new firm.

An official requesting anonymity said the ranking also dropped as the MC only has open defecation free (ODF) plus certificate while other urban local bodies in the state, including Amritsar, have ODF++. It costed at least 300 marks to the MC.

What officials say

Mayor Balkar Sandhu and MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said that given the circumstances after A2Z company pulled out of the solid waste management project, the ranking of the city is not bad. There is scope for improvement and the MC is working on the same.

Sandhu said that different projects are in the pipeline, including installation of static compactors, disposing of legacy waste etc and the work on the ground-level will commence soon. After this, the ranking of the city will certainly improve in next year’s survey.

No lessons learnt from Indore

Despite making official visits to Indore, Delhi, Chennai among others cities in the past, the civic body has failed to implement the solid waste management techniques in the city. The MC delegation had visited Indore in 2019, but they have so far failed to improve solid waste management in the city. Indore has bagged the award of the cleanest city in the country for fifth time in a row, in 2019.

Residents too are responsible: Officials

MC officials said residents are also responsible for the drop in rankings as residents have not adopted the practice to segregate the waste in their houses, despite repeated appeals made by the civic body.