BMC tasks NGO with collection and processing of waste from residential societies and commercial establishments; pilot begins in F South ward
The crusher that shreds the wet waste, which is then composted
Mumbaikars will now have to pay for disposal of their garbage. The civic body has reintroduced its plan of charging people for collecting and processing their solid waste and started the pilot project yesterday in F South ward. The aim is to reduce the need for dumping grounds, said a civic official.
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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has appointed an NGO to collect the waste and the fee from residential societies and commercial establishments in F South ward. According to the BMC's plan, each family will have to shell out R60 per month and the commercial establishments R150 every month.
The pilot project covers a section of F South ward with 10,500 houses. The NGO will compost the wet waste, and process/crush the dry trash and sell it to a recycling vendor.
Ashok Khaire, deputy municipal commissioner of the solid waste management (SWM) department, said, "We have appointed the NGO for a period of six months. If the organisation performs well, we will give it an extension of another six months. If the pilot project is successful, we will bring on board more NGOs through a lottery system for the other wards."
The NGO in F South ward started the collection of solid waste from Friday and will collect the fee after a month, and has delegated 73 workers for the task. They will process the garbage at their processing centre on Gokhale Society Lane in Parel.
The area selected for the pilot generates around 12 metric tonne of solid waste every day. "We have set up a plastic crusher that has a capacity of shredding 300 pet bottles at a time. After crushing the plastic waste, the NGO will sell it to a recycling vendor. No waste generated in the pilot area will be sent to the dumping ground," said an SWM official.
The BMC has long been trying to implement a decentralised system of processing wet waste to reduce the load on the city's overflowing dumping grounds. It had planned to charge Mumbaikars for collection and processing of solid waste due to paucity of funds, and had even mentioned about it in the civic budget. The city currently produces around 6,900 metric tonne of solid waste every day, out of which 5,500 metric tonne goes to the dumping ground in Kanjurmarg and the rest to Deonar.
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