After a delay of more than six months, the waste segregation at source programme has been launched under the solid waste management project by East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). It is likely to take off by the end of the month from Vasundhara Enclave. EDMC on October 2 joined hands with the local NGO Chintan for the project.
Vivek Pandey, additional commissioner of EDMC, said, “Chintan has been conducting awareness drives in Vasundhara Enclave’s group housing societies. We are also engaging other NGOs for the purpose in Mayur Vihar Phase I Extension and Preet Vihar.”
The waste segregation at source programme was announced in December 2016 by EDMC and was supposed to be launched in March this year. However, it got stalled due to lack of funds. Now with the central government allocating Rs 100 crore for the project, it can finally be kicked off.
Chintan will be reaching out to housing societies in Vasundhara Enclave and launching an awareness campaign in the area. Mayur Vihar Pahse I Extension and Preet Vihar will follow in the second phase.
As per the agreement between EDMC and Chintan, the former will provide manpower, equipment and land for setting up the segregated waste dumping pits and the NGO will encourage residents to segregate wet and dry waste and hand it over on a daily basis.
Shivani Mukherjee, project coordinator at Chintan, said, “We would start the campaign by next week and will submit a report to EDMC.”
“Wet waste will go to the compost pits and e-waste will be sent to a recycle centre. We will collect recycle items from the dry waste and the rest will go to the landfill site. It will not only reduce the load of Ghazipur but also make the area garbage-free,” Mukherjee added.
If everything falls into place, Vasundhara Enclave will be the second residential colony in East Delhi to adopt a zero-waste scheme. A similar project has been recently launched in Mayur Vihar Phase I, which has about 2,500 households.
