KMC on a mission: Segregation of solid waste

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is steadily moving towards segregation of solid waste as per standards of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 envisaged by the Union ministry of Forest and Environment. In Bengal, the municipal waste generation stands at 14,000 metric tonne per day while the KMC alone handles 4,500 metric tonne per day.

"We have made plans to set up 50 dustbins — two each side by side at different parts of the city. The areas that have been selected for this purpose includes Kidderpore, Central Avenue, Muktaram Babu Street. Four such dustbins have been installed at Ultadanga and the same number at Thanthania. An amount of Rs 4.5 lakh has been allocated for this," a senior official of the SWM department said.

The two dustbins will be of same colour and there will be nothing marked on them — whether it is meant for organic or inorganic waste. "However, we will conduct awareness campaigns to urge people to throw separate type of wastes in these two dustbins," he said.

SWM Rules 2016 that has categorised solid waste into six broad categories — industrial hazardous waste, healthcare or biomedical waste, solid waste that involves wastes from houses, schools and offices, plastic waste, electronic or e-waste and construction or demolition waste.

"We are working hard to put into effect to the new SWM Rules 2016. We are trying to treat solid waste under three categories — bio degradable waste, recycle waste and inert waste. However, we alone cannot do segregation unless citizens come forward. So we have decided to organise awareness drives in a big way by involving schoolchildren. Segregation at the source is necessary," the official said.

In seven Wards in the city — 33, 47, 64, 103, 110, 115,135 the KMC has employed private agencies who collect inorganic and organic wastes in separate buckets.

Sources in the SWM department pointed out lack of funds for putting in place the infrastructure for such disposal system in all the 144 wards of the KMC. "We have seen that a person who dumps wastes in separate bins in airport does not follow it at home or in other places. The waste from kitchen and plastic gets dumped in the same dustbin. Awareness needs to be taken up first," a top official of the state Pollution Control Board said.