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Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 13
Once bitten, twice shy! This does not seem to hold much relevance for the local Municipal Corporation.
Having wasted a whopping Rs 2.20 crore on buying two-coloured bins for residents for waste segregation that never took off, the MC is again planning to buy 1,300 bins for Rs 35 lakh for keeping these in public places.
According to the agenda that is to be tabled for the MC House meeting on Friday for approval, as part of the implementation of the garbage-free protocol issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, twin bins (blue and green) are to be installed at a distance of every 50 m in all commercial, tourist and public areas. In a survey conducted by the MOH (Medical Officer of Health) wing of the MC, it was found that an additional 1,150 blue and 1,150 green bins are required.
Of these, 1,300 are to be procured by the MC at an approximate cost of Rs 35 lakh, while the remaining bins will be provided by other organisations under their CSR initiative. As the waste segregation never took off, the expenditure of lakhs of rupees on buying bins has raised many an eyebrow.
The bins were bought during the tenure of the then MC Commissioner, B Purushartha, in June last year, but till date, the segregation has failed to take off despite several awareness programmes. A total of 2.50 lakh dustbins were distributed among residents for the segregation of waste. However, neither people started segregating waste nor door-to-door waste collectors started taking segregated waste.
The bins distributed by the MC are lying dumped and discarded.
Slamming the move, chairman of the Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh (FOSWAC), Baljinder Singh Bittu, said, “They have already wasted over Rs 2 crore. We do not mind if they spend more on it, but who will lift the waste. Around 2,000 bins already put up in the city are full of garbage and nobody lifts the waste. Public money should be used for productive work.”
Bins for dry & wet waste
Dry waste in blue bin: Plastic (must be rinsed if soiled), paper, metal, rubber, thermocol, old mops, dusters, sponges, cosmetics, ceramics, wooden chips, hair and coconut shells.
Wet waste in green bin: Vegetables, fruit peels, cooked food, leftovers, egg shells, chicken/fish bones, rotten fruits, tea bags, coffee grinds and leaf plates.
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