KMC’s separate dustbin project gathers dust

Inspired by a similar project being successfully run by the Cooch Behar municipality, the KMC had planned to provide households with separate bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes.

This would have made the disposal easier by separating the non-biodegradable waste from the rest at the household level itself.

“This would have been a great scheme. At present, all the waste in the house goes into the same bin. Sometimes plastic waste is not properly disposed leading to choking of the drains in the area,” said Piyu Sarkar, a 42-year-old resident of Beliaghata, one of the eight centres in the city where the scheme was planned to be launched.

The proposed pilot project was envisaged to ensure that household waste such as plastics, glass pieces and items containing lead could be collected and recycled in a dedicated recycling plant. The successful implementation of the project meant that the solid waste dumping ground at Dhapa would remain free from toxic materials and the biodegradable waste could be turned to compost.

The improper disposal of waste like plastic has often led to the choking of the sewage system in the city, which leads to water logging during the monsoons. Besides, the non-biodegradable waste, which often contains toxic elements, also poses a health hazard for the people involved in disposing waste.

After a much-publicised announcement of the project, the KMC had planned to invite tenders. It had also planned to ask the self-help groups to participate in the programme by taking charge of the waste collection activity.

Some non-governmental agencies had also reportedly approached the KMC in this regard and one of the wards had submitted the list of the households to the KMC so that the latter would be able to arrange the bins for them accordingly.

The KMC, however, is blaming the delay in initiating the pilot project on the “lack of” experienced private companies who would be able to execute the scheme.

“The project has not been implemented yet as we are in the process of talking to companies and understanding the nitty-gritty of the project. It is a very new initiative and not many of the companies have the know-how to implement it,” said the chief engineer of the solid waste department of the KMC, Arun Sarkar.

The civic body is planning to float a fresh tender after streamlining the number of wards in which the pilot would be launched initially.