The Times of India 03.12.2013
PCMC gets groundwork ready to segregate waste
PUNE: Collection of segregated garbage from households in Pimpri Chinchwad in expected to roll out in the next three to four months. The civic body will be able to fully utilise the services of the hopper rickshaws which have separate compartments for collecting dry and wet garbage.
Separate bins
RB Chavan, health executive officer, PCMC said the civic body will distribute two separate coloured garbage bins to over 4.6 lakh households at a cost of Rs 6.59 crore. Pearl green bins will be for wet garbage while white bins will be for dry garbage. Citizens will have to segregate dry and wet garbage in their houses and dump it in the bins. Private contractors will collect the segregated garbage. Dry garbage will be given to wastepickers who will segregate it further and sell it for livelihood.
Transportation costs
The civic body collects 650 tons of garbage daily and transports it to the Moshi garbage depot for processing and disposal. After garbage segregation at source, PCMC will have to transport just half the daily garbage collection. It will reduce transportation costs, pollution and vehicular traffic on roads as lesser number of garbage carrying vehicles will ply. Lesser garbage will be dumped in the depot increasing the depot's life, said civic officials.
Funds from JNNURM
A Rs 70.44-crore solid waste management project was approved by the Union government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission ( JNNURM) in 2009. The share of union and state governments in the entire project is 50 and 20 per cent of the entire project and the remaining amount is to be borne by the civic body. The civic body has purchased 362 hopper rickshaws for house-to-house garbage collection. Each hopper rickshaw costs around Rs 4.2 lakh. Though the rickshaws have separate compartments for collecting dry and wet waste, they collect mixed garbage as there is no segregation at source.
Going all out
The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will start a public awareness campaign from March about segregation of dry and wet garbage for two months. It will seek help from social groups, school students, Ganesh mandals, NGOs, senior citizens and corporators.
