PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) officials said that it will launch a city-wide exercise to identify Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) before issuing notices directing them to process waste at source.
The chief municipal health officer, Dehradun, Anand Shukla said that the civic body is currently preparing for the exercise as it does not have a comprehensive database of establishments generating more than 100 kilograms of waste per day. “Once identified, such establishments will be required to segregate waste at source and install composting units to process wet waste on their own premises. Dry waste can either be recycled by the establishments or handed over to the corporation,” he said.
Shukla further said that the move is aimed at reducing the burden on the corporation, which currently handles nearly 500 tonnes of waste daily. He said that waste generation continues to rise with the city’s growing population and increases further during festivals. “The corporation earlier collected waste directly from BWGs, but large waste generators will now be made responsible for managing their own waste,” he added.
The associate director of Waste Warriors Society, Naveen Kumar Sadana welcomed the initiative, saying that better segregation at source would reduce mixed waste, lower transportation and landfill costs, increase composting and recycling and improve Dehradun’s performance in Swachh Survekshan.
He, however, cautioned that implementation could face challenges, including the high initial cost of composting units, lack of awareness and technical knowledge, space constraints, shortage of trained manpower and the absence of reliable data on bulk waste generators. He suggested the corporation begin with the top 100 bulk waste generators as a pilot project and provide standard operating procedures and technical support to ensure effective implementation.
