Need a solution to city’s garbage bin problem

A community bin set up near Shivaji Nagar, Govandi

Old community dustbins, which are often found full and overflowing, are an eyesore and actually puncture the BMC's claim and efforts to beautify the city. There are around 1,500 such bins across the city which are cleaned out once a day. Locals claimed this was not enough and also pointed at the lack of facilities to segregate waste. This despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation announcing a Rs 2,000-crore beautification plan for the city.

Locals said the high population means the bins are always full and then there is the inevitable spill over. It is stinking, and stray dogs and cats often feed on the waste or drag it across the road, compounding the situation. One activist said that there needs to be some permanent solution.

A BMC official said there were around 6,000 such community bins across the city earlier, which has now been reduced to 1,500 as BMC facilitates daily garbage collection.

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There has to be a concerted effort to clear up these bins more often, since there are spillovers. Maybe more bins can be added if needed. It is best though that a hi-tech solution be found, some kind of machinery or apparatus that empties these bins into vans fast so that the vans can make a certain number of rounds, three maybe, to empty them. The bins also need to be closed once full and signage warning residents of fines if they are caught throwing their waste on the roads, once these bins are full.

Painting and upgrading infra are of little use and are a drawback to overall efforts, if on ground problems like these persist. We are the first to agree that Mumbai with its mammoth population has tough to beat challenges. Resolutions to long-standing, knotty issues are part of cleaning up and enhancing Mumbai's image and looking after the health of the people.