Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will introduce the system of collecting garbage even during the evenings from August 15.
"The system of collecting garbage is the most important aspect of solid waste management (SWM). Presently, we have a mechanism for garbage collection thrice during the day. From August 15, we will be doing the same four times a day. Kolkata will be the only city in the country where garbage collection will be carried out so many times," Member, Mayor -in-Council (SWM) Debabrata Majumder said on Thursday.
In response to a proposal from Left Front councillor Debasish Mukherjee on how KMC is moving towards the implementation of the newly envisaged SWM Act 2016 by the Union Ministry of Forest & Environment in the monthly meeting, Majumder urged all the stakeholders associated with the process, to have an efficient system in place for keeping the city clean.
"We are setting up three groups of people for each borough, who will keep an eye on garbage accumulation from 12 noon till 9 pm. Each gang will have a supervisor. If they find garbage at any place, particularly during the evening, they will inform the SWM department and immediate action will be taken for cleaning it," Majumder added.
In Bengal, the municipal waste generation stands at 14,000 metric tonne per day, while KMC alone handles 4,500 metric tonne per day.
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.
The state is working upon classifying solid waste under three categories- bio-degradable waste, recycle waste and inert waste to
begin with.
In seven wards in the city — 33, 47, 64, 103, 110, 115 and 135, KMC has employed private agencies, who collect inorganic and organic wastes in separate buckets to ensure segregation at source. The same system will be soon introduced in another 20 wards of the civic body. Majumder also stressed the need of awareness and urged the local clubs, schools and colleges to be involved in the awareness drives. "The councillors need to take a proactive role regarding the throwing of garbage in separate bins," he said. Majumder also announced that the civic body is coming up with the construction material crusher machine at Dhapa. "This can be used in road repair," he maintained.