PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) chief municipal health officer Dr Anand Shukla on Saturday has directed the officials to review old records and identify local bodies and institutions that have failed to pay waste disposal and processing charges for several years. The MCD has now begun issuing recovery notices to defaulters to clear the long-pending dues.
The move comes as several local bodies and institutions using the MCD’s waste management facility have accumulated outstanding charges running into crores of rupees. Selaqui Nagar Panchayat alone owes around Rs 2 crore to the corporation, while nearly Rs 65 lakh is outstanding against the Niranjanpur Vegetable Market.
Several nearby urban local bodies use the MCD’s waste management facility as they lack adequate waste processing arrangements of their own. However, the prescribed charges have not been deposited regularly in some cases, putting additional financial pressure on the corporation.
The Health Section has started preparing a list of defaulters and examining old records to recover the pending amount. A recovery notice has already been issued to the Niranjanpur Vegetable Market, while the Mussoorie Municipality also has dues running into lakhs of rupees.
Shukla said that notices are being issued to local bodies and institutions whose waste disposal charges have remained unpaid for a long period. He said that the corporation is focusing on recovering the outstanding amount to reduce the financial burden of waste management.
Meanwhile, illegal dumping along the corporation’s boundaries remains another challenge. Waste dumped in areas adjoining the city limits is adding to the pressure on the civic body and making it difficult to maintain cleanliness.
