Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim on Friday proposed to allocate Rs 657.16 crore for completely revamping solid waste management in the city. Hakim announced the allocation while delivering the KMC Budget statement and at the same time, touched upon a slew of measures aimed at the overhaul.
"There was a time when people would say that Kolkata is a dead city. But now,
with KMC undertaking commendable work to maintain a clean and hygienic environment, people say that Kolkata is a living city. Scientific solid waste management is a challenge and we are up to it," Hakim said.
He maintained that the civic body has already started segregation of waste at the source at 7 wards in the city and is all set to start the same in 20 more wards.
"We will gradually bring more and more wards under the purview as separation of dry and wet waste is of utmost importance. Dry waste can be recycled while the wet portion can be used for making fertiliser. Uttarpara Municipality in Hooghly district is now successfully doing segregation of waste at source," the Mayor said.
KMC is also introducing a dress code for the employees who are associated with the collection of garbage at the ground level.
"Gone are the days when a cleaner would work in a tattered dress and slippers, making them susceptible to diseases. The garbage disposal system has been modernised and so the cleaners should also have a proper dress code," Hakim added.
KMC has placed 11,500 bins of 240 litre capacity each, for the use of pedestrians and shop owners to stop littering streets and footpaths.
The civic body has progressed towards replacing open vats in the city by introducing compactor and movable compactor stations. 120 battery operated environment and user-friendly hydraulic dumpers have been engaged.
"I have made it clear to our officials that cleaning of garbage at any place in the city, irrespective of jurisdiction, will be taken up by the Conservancy department. The charge for cleaning may be collected from the concerned agency at a later stage," Hakim said.