Mayor prod SWM to speed up replacing open vats
Kolkata: Mayor Firhad Hakim on Saturday instructed senior officials of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) department to speed up the process of replacing all open vats in the city. The Mayor's prod came when a resident of Behala Sakuntala Park called him up during the 'Talk To Mayor' programme and informed him about garbage spilling over from open vats on road and foul smell emanating from there causing problems for the local residents.
"If there is availability of space there , why there is still an open vat? Take steps to come up with a compactor station in and around the area and replace the open vat," Hakim instructed Director General (SWM)
who was present at the programme.
Amit Lal, a resident of Ho Chi Minh Sarani of Sakuntala Park, Behala called up Hakim and complained of garbage and medical waste of a private nursing home being dumped indiscriminately at the open vat located just opposite the nursing home. Hakim instructed his SWM team to visit the place immediately and take measures. It may be mentioned that the SWM department of the KMC has already set up 400 compactor stations in the city but there are still a handful of open vats .
"Kolkata is a clean city but there are only a few callous people who are dumping garbage on open roads . Officials have been instructed to serve notices as per law to anybody who is found to be engaged in littering," Hakim said. Municipal Commissioner Khalil Ahmed said that there are municipal courts and if somebody is found committing nuisance they should be served notices and brought to the court.
A senior official of the SWM department pointed out that it is difficult to detect somebody who commits such nuisance. There also needs to be at least two witnesses of the littering act for serving notice and accordingly bringing the offender before the municipal court. "There are penal provisions in the KMC Act under which the municipal court can take action depending upon the gravity of the 'littering act'," the official added.
The Mayor said that the councilors are also constantly engaging themselves in awareness in their respective wards on the detrimental effects of dumping garbage here and there and not in designated bins.
