NEW DELHI: As the city heads for the civic polls on December 4, garbage and waste management have become the most evocative issues among voters and political parties. While Aam Aadmi Party has launched an aggressive campaign in this regard, opposition parties say BJP has done nothing in 15 years, claiming the Solid Waste Management bylaws, 2018, are ‘barely implemented’ and the concept of ‘zero-waste colonies’ is an eyewash. Congress leader and former Andrews Ganj councillor Abhishek Dutt said mixed waste is still collected from colonies and taken to dhaloas, which should have ceased to exist after the implementation of the bylaws. “Even mobile compacting stations are taking mixed waste to landfills or processing units. The corporation has never been serious about garbage management. A report prepared by IIT on methods to flatten landfills was never implemented,” he said. Dutt said at least 28 colonies and group housing societies were declared ‘zero waste’ in September and felicitated by the LG. “But these figures are only on paper. On the ground, people are still giving mixed waste,” he claimed. AAP leaders said MCD failed to fulfil its most fundamental obligation of keeping the city neat and clean. “It created three large landfills that have become a symbol of shame. They have become unstable, so BJP is looking for sites to create new landfills. It shortlisted a few sites too like Ghonda but the locals protested. AAP is against the idea of creating new landfills and is working on a plan to eliminate them,” said Delhi minister Gopal Rai. BJP leaders, however, said despite lack of resources and space for segregating waste, the situation has changed a lot in the past 10 years. By 2025, they said, adequate facilities will be created to dispose of the entire waste on a daily basis. Officials said the civic body had arranged to process the maximum amount of waste generated every day. “Door-to-door garbage collection is taking place in all 12 zones. We have created facilities for end-to-end processing of waste, including waste-to-energy plants, material recovery centres, decentralised segregation and composting units, CNG bio-composters and C&D waste plants. We have even shut down most of the dhalaos,” said a senior MCD official. Officials said the latest cleanliness rankings featuring 45 cities placed the erstwhile north, south and east corporations at 37, 28 and 34, a marked improvement from last year, when they stood at 45, 31 and 40. “We are cleaning unauthorised colonies and areas on the outskirts too. Opposition parties start criticising the corporation whenever it challans those who don’t segregate waste. Strict action is required to achieve results,” the official added. Former standing committee chairman and Krishna Nagar councillor Sandeep Kapoor said it was easier to point fingers than to perform. “From lack of space to dump inert, refuse-derived fuel and C&D waste, MCD has faced various hurdles in bio-mining of legacy waste. We are pursuing all agencies but not getting 100% assistance,” he said. Toxics Link chief programme coordinator Priti Mahesh said there is a need to overhaul the system, adopt measures holistically, minimise waste and strictly implement rules. “Rather than playing the blame game, there is a need for joint effort. Each person needs to have some responsibility to achieve results. Dereliction at any stage would defeat the entire purpose. Most people are aware of the rules, so stress should be laid on implementation,” she said.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/wonder-to-waste-delhis-mess-biggest-poll-issue/articleshow/95364983.cms