To drive the garbage segregation and composting campaign home, NMMC stops collecting waste, issues notices to housing societies
Tough love is what the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) seems to be practising. It has stopped collecting garbage from societies within its limits to get residents to start segregating and composting their own waste. While holding workshops to educate them about the same, it has set November 15 as the deadline for societies to start doing this on their own, failing which they will face further action. It recently issued notices to 500-odd societies and also held meetings with residential welfare associations.
NMMC has been holding workshops to teach residents how to segregate and compost waste
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Clean and green
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Tushwar Pawar said that last year too they had issued notices to societies about segregating garbage. "This year, after Diwali, we issued notices again to around 500 societies, most of them high-rises that generate more than 100 kg waste daily. It's mandatory for all societies to find ways and sources to compost dry waste," he added.
Pawar further said there were more than 4,500 societies within the corporation limits. "Along with societies, we have also sent notices to 22 hotels. We started holding workshops after Diwali to teach them how to turn waste into compost and how it will help them in the future," he said.
As of now, only 60 per cent of the total garbage in Navi Mumbai is segregated, which is proving to be a big hindrance in improving its rank in the clean city list prepared by the Government of India. NMMC's steps are to that end.
The civic body collects around 650 metric tons of garbage daily of which around 200 metric tons is wet waste. It plans to put up 100-odd bins for collecting e-waste across the city, another of its efforts to become the cleanest city of India.
On a war footing
Pawar said the situation was worse in slums and gaothans with residents least bothered or aware about segregation. "So, after the societies, our target is the 48 gaothans and 48 slums that fall within NMMC's limits. We are also conducting street plays to educate the masses about the segregation process."
Mayor Sudhakar Sonawane said, "We aren't forcing people to follow the process, but they should know by now what the situation in the near future will be if dry and wet waste is dumped together in the dumping ground - same as that in Mumbai. In the workshop, we are trying to explain to people how within their own homes 1 kg waste is collected daily and how they can recycle it, turn it into manure. The workshop teaches how one can carry out composting within one's house near the kitchen or balcony or within the society premises."
"Issuing notices to societies doesn't mean we will take preemptive action... we are just following the due process and pushing them to lend support to the corporation, so that everyone can have access to cleaner and greener surroundings. The corporation can't do it alone, citizens need to do their bit as well," he added.'
At a workshop organised at Vishnudas Bhave Natyagruha on Saturday, NMMC Commissioner N Ramaswami said, "Navi Mumbai should aim to be a 'zero garbage' city."
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