Waste collection project takes hit in Chandigarh

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 20

In a setback to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation’s project of waste segregation and collection through its own vehicles, only one third of the waste collectors registered with it by January 15, the last date for registration.

According to the MC, it earlier served a last notice to the collectors asking them to register with the corporation to work as helper or driver with its 390 newly purchased vehicles. But, of a total of 1,500 collectors in the corporation records, only around 550 persons have registered so far.

Sources said some of the registered collectors had not joined as drivers of the MC’s vehicles. They, along with others, are still collecting waste through the traditional rehris from door to door.

The corporation had earlier said if the collectors and drivers did not register by January 15, the civic body would be forced to hire its own manpower. A faction of the waste collectors has been on protest outside the MC building for the past few days to press for collection of waste through cycle carts.

The impasse between the civic body and the collectors has led to shortcomings in the implementation of the first phase of the project in Sectors 1-30.

In many areas, carts continue to pick waste. At some places, both carts and two-bin vehicles are picking waste from the same area, leading to confusion among the residents.

The civic body has already issued a notice that it will collect monthly garbage collection charges, not the private waste collectors picking waste through cycle carts.

A senior MC officer said: “When the MC will collect charges for January next month, collectors will themselves join us as they will not get payment from residents.” The civic body may collect charges either through water bills or POS machines.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Officer of Health (MOH), Dr Amrit Warring, said: “Even though the last date has passed, if any of the collectors wants to register with us, they can still do so.”

Hitesh Puri, Chairman, CRAWFED, said: “Before launching the second phase of this project in the southern Sectors, the MC must fix issues with the collectors so that the residents do not face problems in door-to-door garbage collection.”

Dalbir Rana, general secretary, Resident Welfare Association, Sector 19-C, said: “Many residents found rehri collectors better than two-bin vehicle teams as they pick waste from doorstep. Some do not appreciate the loud sound played outside their houses every morning by these vehicles. Spending crores on buying vehicles is not wise as these also add to air pollution.”

The MC has plans to replace carts with two-bin vehicles in the whole city. These vehicles will shift garbage from houses to three waste recovery centres from where big trucks will take it to the waste-processing plant in Sector 25.