Kamaljeet Sehrawat, a resident of Guru Apartments in Sector 6, Dwarka, is the new mayor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). In a tete-a-tete with City Spidey, Sehrawat discusses her game plan to transform the area under her jurisdiction...
What is your primary focus?
At first, I have to work on improving sanitation. I want my area to be neat and clean, full of greenery and beautiful. I have already started working on my plan. Residents will definitely feel a change in two to three months' time. Next comes development in the fields of health and education. I want to make the involved processes simpler, and how better to do that than to take things online. People will be able to sit in the comfort of their homes and get things done.
Although SDMC's previous budgets and plans have shown a focus on embracing the zero-waste concept, nothing substantial has been done. How have you planned to go zero-waste?
Making the area zero-waste is a monumental task. The biggest hurdle we have is the absence of a landfill site. We had tried to set up one at Ghummanhera but that did not materialise. So that still remains our primary concern. First, we need a landfill site, then we go about proper waste management.
We have a lot to do. We need to implement solid waste management in the area. We also need a mechanism to transport garbage from households to the landfill site in an efficient manner. Garbage needs to be segregated and managed. For that we require both residents and the authorities to pitch in.
A blueprint to ensure efficient waste management will be ready in six months.
Another problem in the area is the open burning of leaves. In the absence of a proper system to manage horticultural waste, people burn it in vacant plots, causing severe pollution. How will you tackle this problem?
This is indeed a serious issue. Our plan is to use all horticultural waste to produce compost. We will introduce composting systems in neighbourhood parks across the area for ease of management.
What is your most ambitious project?
To make all 104 wards under me being able to perfectly manage solid waste. I want to set up a system in which none of the garbage goes to waste. Instead, all of it needs to be used.
The corporation has always been accused of inefficiency and corruption. How will you fix that?
These anomalies need to be removed from the system. The corporation needs a clean-up. It will run according to the rules.
Any message for the people?
I want to appeal to the community that they must monitor our work and give us feedback. That is imperative for improvement.
