Wednesday, 21 February 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The reluctance shown by Dehradun Smart City Limited (DSCL) to install 100 CCTV cameras on its own to monitor garbage dumping has stalled the plan of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) to take action against garbage dumped in the open in the city. In order to monitor the offenders who dump garbage at the spots from where MCD had removed garbage bins, the officials had proposed to the DSCL to install 100 CCTV cameras in as many spots prone to littering.
The corporation proposed the plan considering most of the CCTV cameras in the city are installed by DSCL which are monitored in its command and control centre. However, DSCL has sought Rs 66 lakh from the corporation to carry out CCTV installation works, the Dehradun municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar said. The MCD started removing garbage bins in June last year to make the city dustbin-free. However, heaps of garbage can be observed in several areas of the city. People who used to dispose of garbage in the bins are now dumping the garbage on the ground at the same sites and other open areas.
Kumar said, “We are aware that people are still dumping garbage at the spots from where garbage bins were removed weeks ago. We have deployed some sanitation workers at some spots to keep an eye on offenders. We also decided to install CCTV cameras at 100 spots to ensure monitoring of each location all the time. For this, we approached DSCL and sent them a proposal regarding the same. They recently sent us a written response asking for Rs 66 lakh to carry out this plan. The amount is not within the corporation’s budget right now. We will soon hold a meeting with DSCL and other officials concerned regarding the same.” Some experts opined that the removal of garbage bins is not going to improve sanitation conditions in the city. Activist and founder of the Dehradun-based Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation Anoop Nautiyal said that authorities have ended up turning Dehradun into a dustbin in their attempt to make certain spots dustbin-free. Small experiments and initiatives are not sufficient anymore. The city needs nothing less than a revolution to make a major impact on sanitation related issues, he added.
