With the city slipping in the Swachh Bharat rankings from the top to the 21st position, a report prepared by a six-member MC panel in 2012, which recommended hiring consultants from the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) for solid waste management in the UT, will now be discussed during the MC House meeting scheduled for September 8.
The report was prepared by the panel after its members, former Mayor Raj Bala Malik, BJP councillor Davesh Moudgil, nominated councillor Surinder Bahga and MC officials, had travelled to Nagpur to study the waste management plan of that city.
The report was part of the agenda for a House meeting in 2012. However, it was kept pending.
The main objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive municipal solid waste management plan for the city. It included chalking out a plan for management of the existing dumpsite in Dadu Majra and the new landfill, which is yet to be identified, in a manner that is environmentally sound.
Now, as per the revised plan, the cost of the project would be around Rs 30 lakh.
In the first phase, the NEERI team would deal with development of an overall plan for the management of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in the city. In the second phase, it would deal with assistance to the civic body in evaluation of tender documents. The third phase would see performance evaluation of the implemented technological options.
What councillors say
The NEERI’s proposal will be beneficial for the city. It will provide data about the quantity and type of garbage. The MC should initiate long-term and comprehensive measures to address the issues pertaining to garbage disposal. Short-term and piecemeal solutions have brought the city on the brink of a disaster. — Surinder Bahga, nominated councillor
The MC would be able to plan segregation and disposal of garbage better by using the data the NEERI will provide after conducting a study in the city. Such proposals are good for the city. At present, proper garbage disposal is a big challenge before the civic body. — Mukesh Bassi, Cong councillor
Scientific analysis and treatment of waste is must for an inclusive urban development. So, all councillors should support this agenda. — Raj Bala Malik, former Mayor & BJP councillor
Presently, the MC has no data and planning for garbage disposal. The NEERI is a government agency, which will provide us with data about different types of garbage generated in the city. All councillors should support this agenda. — Davesh Moudgil, BJP councillor
Sanitation management in Chandigarh
- The city generates 370 tonnes of waste daily
- 270 tonnes of waste goes to the garbage processing plant in Dadu Majra
- Remaining 100 tonnes is dumped in the dumping ground at Dadu Majra
- With only 53 dumper-placers with the MC’s sanitation wing to lift garbage from the 550 garbage bins in the city, the MC staff is lifting garbage from a majority of these bins on alternate days
- On a daily basis, the MC is only lifting garbage from around 190 garbage bins. In some sectors, the MC is lifting garbage bins once in three days, once a week and even once in a fortnight
- There are 36 Sehaj Safai Kendras in the city
- The MC has nearly 4,000 employees to maintain cleanliness in the entire city. Nearly 1,200 employees are regular while the remaining were hired through contractors.