Friday, 30 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) will start a survey of slums to provide proper sanitation facilities there as per the recent directions of the high court. The sanitation teams of the corporation visit the slum areas to know about what kind of vehicle or cart should be sent there to collect the garbage for the door to door services, said the chief municipal health officer Dr Avinash Khanna.
There are about 40,000 houses in several slum pockets of Dehradun. Due to irregular garbage collecting facilities in the slums, people often resort to discarding all their waste within the area. Garbage gets accumulated there with each passing day and eventually becomes a mountain of garbage. The heap of uncollected garbage can also take a toll on local’s health. As per Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, every civic body is expected to carry out door-to-door collection service and transportation of municipal solid waste from all areas of the city.
The MCD claims to provide door to door to services in all wards but most of the slums are deprived of this facility. Taking into consideration the gravity of the problem, the court ordered the corporation to take necessary action to ensure proper sanitation facilities in slums as well. The health officer Khanna said that considering the high court’s order, the corporation will conduct a survey to consider all factors before starting door to door garbage collection service in slums including the width of routes there to send vehicles accordingly. “We will see whether the respective slums have sufficient space for the operation of a vehicle usually sent for garbage collection. If there are narrow routes, we will send rickshaws or carts accordingly. The HC has issued an order to maintain facilities in the slum areas and the corporation will ensure to execute it properly in all wards,” said Khanna.
Slums are usually believed to be the most neglected section of any city that often does not receive enough sanitation facilities. Slums are considered to be one of the biggest challenges for the Corporation due to various factors including the infrastructural issues of slums and the attitudinal rigidness of people there regarding waste management. Considering most of the slum dwellers fall below poverty line (BPL), the MCD will not take any monthly user charges from them. “We want to encourage every household in slums to practice efficient waste management so we will not charge even a nominal fee from them,” added Khanna.
