Swachh Survekshan 2022: Chandigarh MC gets extra month to streamline solid waste mgmt

The Chandigarh municipal corporation has got an additional month to get the city’s solid waste management (SWM) in order, as Swachh Survekshan 2022 (SS22) timelines have been extended.

MC has zeroed down on seven key sectors, mainly related to SWM, to improve the city’s ranking in the survey.

SS22 timelines were recently shifted by the Union government. As per guidelines, documentation under SS22 was to be earlier done by January 15, but the deadline has now been extended to February 20.

Similarly, direct observation has been shifted from February to March, starting March 1. Under this, independent observers are designated by the Union government to assess different parameters under the survekshan.

Collection of data from direct observation is based on physical observation of the sanitation status in public places by the survey agency. The agency uses maps and simple handheld device/recording formats to record their observations and findings along with photographs/videos, wherever necessary.

A dysfunctional waste processing plant, slow progress in the legacy mining and poor segregation at source had pushed the city beautiful further down the Swachh Survekshan rankings in 2021. Over all, the city was ranked at 66 out of 4,320 cities.

SEVEN KEY AREAS

MC is focusing on 100% door-to-door collection and segregation of waste this time. “We have pushed in 96 extra vehicles and started covering the uncovered areas of Chandigarh. We have already refabricated the vehicles to collect garbage in four categories- dry, wet, sanitary and hazardous in a segregated manner,” said Anindita Mitra, MC commissioner.

Slow bio-remediation of legacy waste at the Dadumajra dumping site was another factor for drop in rankings. On site 1, under the Chandigarh Smart City Limited legacy mining project where 5 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of waste is to be removed, MC has set up five belts instead of three to increase the pace of remediation and speed up the work. “We have remediated 2.80 out of 5 LMT and reclaimed 8.5 of 20 acres of land,” said Mitra.

In its last meeting, the MC general House also gave its nod to the proposal to clean up site 2, which has 7.67 LMT of legacy waste. “For the second site, we have submitted a proposal to Union government under Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, of ₹77 crore,” said Mitra.

Full processing of dry and wet waste

“MC’s dry waste, wet waste and bio-methanation plants are all being upgraded in order to ensure 100% processing of 550 tonnes of waste generated on a daily basis. Similarly, our 3rd MRF centre shall be functional by February 10,” said Mitra.

On the sanitation front, particularly with an eye on the direct observation round, all MC toilets (CTs/PTs), have been provided sanitary napkin dispensers and running water as well as QR codes. “We paid major attention to capacity building of safai karamcharis and sanitation workers. We also linked each employee to three welfare schemes like insurance and JSY,” said Mitra.

On the crucial citizen engagement, MC is stepping up engaging with residents through Twitter, and other social platforms and murals in several locations.

“We are even applying for a WhatsApp business account to enable us to reach each and every citizen of Chandigarh. With major focus on promoting home composting, we have started a city wide campaign of distribution of home composting buckets and training for the same,” said Mitra.