The Times of India 13.09.2013
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to give free bins for better waste management
PUNE: To encourage citizens to segregate wet and dry waste, the municipal corporation in Pimpri Chinchwad will soon start distributing two small garbage bins free of cost among 4.65 lakh households here.
The civic body will purchase over 9.3 lakh garbage bins in two colours __ white for wet and green for dry waste__ and distribute them over the next four months. All bins will have PCMC and JNNURM logos printed on them.
The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation aims at segregating garbage at source, dispose off the dry (inorganic waste) at the garbage depot or recycle some items, while use the wet garbage (organic waste) for composting and organic manure.
PCMC's health executive officer R B Chavan said by distributing bins, citizens will be encouraged to segregate garbage at source. Along with distribution of garbage bins, the municipal corporation has planned to create a mass awareness campaign on garbage segregation. "We will be taking help of citizen NGOs and other groups to create awareness,'' Chavan said.
In the current system of collection and disposal of garbage, the municipal corporation sends garbage collecting vehicles known as 'hopper auto rickshaws' every day to each locality. Citizens dispose off mixed garbage in the vehicles which is then transported in bigger vehicles to the Moshi garbage depot. The municipal corporation has appointed private agencies to collect garbage from house to house.
Ironically, hopper auto rickshaws have two separate compartments, one each for wet and dry waste and are supposed to collect segregated garbage. Three years back, the municipal corporation purchased a total of 362 such vehicles, each costing Rs 4.2 lakh, using funds distributed to mission cities by the central government under JNNURM. However, the objective behind purchasing the special vehicles was lost as mixed garbage is being collected every day.
Chavan said that after distributing the two separate garbage bins and encouraging people to segregate garbage, it will become easier for the corporation to implement solid waste disposal rules. "At a later stage, we can even make it compulsory for people to segregate garbage because the corporation has already given garbage bins,'' he said.
Segregation of garbage, Chavan said, has distinct advantages. Besides being environment friendly, it will help reduce garbage transportation costs as lesser quantities of waste will have to be disposed at the Moshi garbage depot, which incidentally has facilities for vermicomposting as well as mechanical composting. Rag pickers on the other hand are also likely to benefit because they will be able to collect dry waste and recycle some of the items. At present, rag pickers find it difficult to separate recyclable items from mixed waste.
Chavan said that the municipal corporation has identified about eight to ten wards where segregated waste will be collected from households. The garbage segregation and disposal plan will be rolled out in other wards in phases, he added.
Incidentally, in early 2008, the municipal corporation had planned to distribute two garbage bins in each household for garbage segregation. The plan however did not work out then. PCMC then also did not have a system to collect segregated waste.
