LUCKNOW: Do not be surprised if somebody comes knocking on your doors and goes off after collecting the domestic waste. This may sound as a tall talk, but would soon become a reality. Nine major cities, including Lucknow, Varanasi and Allahabad, have been taken up for this purpose under a pilot project set rolling on Thursday for the first time in Uttar Pradesh.

Costwise, the facility is not expected to upset the household budget as it comes at not more than Rs 50 per month. However, a final decision is yet to be taken in this regard by the concerned municipal bodies, which are the main stakeholders in the system based on private-public participation, says principal secretary, urban development, Alok Ranjan.

‘‘The work has already been assigned to operators or agencies selected through the process of tenders for all the nine cities,’’ Ranjan said, adding that the model was adopted here after its success in Nasik, Jodhpur, Nagpur, Rajkot, Pune and Meera Bhyander in the suburbs of Mumbai.

The new system, he said, would be put into action by the end of June next. By then, the necessary drill, including setting up of disposal plants and recruitment of house-waste collectors, would be completed.

Eight other cities, being covered under the project, known as the ‘‘Management of municipal solid waste on integrated approach,’’ are: Meerut, Varanasi, Allahabad, Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Aligarh, Jhansi and Mathura. The project is estimated to cost Rs 300.71 crore and would be funded entirely by the Centre.

The biggest advantage of this project is that the mounds of domestic waste, which are ugly sites and biggest health hazards, will be recycled and turned into a profitable business. While 40-50 per cent of the total biodegradable waste will be converted into compost, another 30 per cent will be converted into refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The plastic will be segregated and sent for recycling. The remaining non-biodegradable waste will account for only about 10-15 per cent and will be disposed though landfill technique, which is specially designed for this purpose.

This way the domestic waste would also become an economically viable proposition. For instance, Lucknow generates 1,300 tones of house waste per day. Its disposal is a big problem, as the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) is able to lift only around 700 tonnes through its loaders.