Thursday, 13 September 2018

Trash trouble: Dwarka’s waste management is a mess


Despite the tall claims made by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to turn Dwarka into a model for waste management and disposal in the Capital, the sub-city’s garbage disposal system remains a mess and nothing seems to be working so far. Dwarka News

Dwarka has no designated place for dumping of garbage leaving the residents and private garbage collectors with no option other than throw the garbage at any random spot near the societies or markets and even along the roads and footpaths.

This wrong way to dispose waste has been going on for so long that even the corporation itself has accepted these spots as dumping grounds and lift garbage randomly from these places.

All the roads and bylanes of Dwarka are overflowing with garbage. Even the restaurants and eateries dump their kitchen waste at random spots.

After the election of Municipal Corporation in 2017, Dwarka was chosen as a pilot project to try new methods of waste management. But even after one and a half years, the sub city has no designated places to dump garbage and no instruction for residents on the correct practices to do so.

Vice president of Dwarka Forum and a resident of Sector 8, AS Chatwal, said his sector is one of the worst affected. “People just randomly dump garbage along the roadside. I haven’t witnessed any change so far. The situation has just gone worse.”

According to the RWA representatives the SDMC vehicles lift garbage from the dustbins kept at the societies and dump it to the dhalao, which is not enough. Also, no dustbins have been provided for the DDA pockets. Garbage strewn everywhere is a common sight at such places.

People have started dumping garbage on the footpath in front of Om Apartments and Kautilya Apartments.

The situation is worse when it comes to the dumping of building material (malba) and horticulture waste. The corporation has failed to designate dumping spot and enlist correct disposal methods for such waste.

Such building materials waste can be seen thrown in the green space or at garbage dumping spots. Private collectors just randomly dump such waste wherever they find an open space.

A social worker and resident of Crescent Apartments, Sector 18, Madhu Dagar, said, “This is a huge issue for the residents living here. It feels like we are living alongside the mountains of garbage. The corporation hasn’t even been able to lift garbage regularly let alone try new methods of waste disposal. It’s high time they did something about this.”

Talking to City Spidey on the subject, Director Press Information, SDMC, Radha Krishan, said he would ensure that dumping of waste in the open is stopped immediately. He said that except dhalao no area has been authorised to dump waste.