One of the highlights of the plan is the establishment of two incinerators to tackle the medical waste generated by small hospitals, in addition to the one functional at Wadi.

Though the civic body has already bought dumper-placers, three loaders and ordered 300 garbage bins in accordance with the plan, Additional City Engineer B S Trapasia said it would be two years before all the recommendations were fulfilled.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner (General) I B Peerzada told Express Newsline that Municipal Commissioner G R Aloria wanted the Rs 413.50 crore project --inclusive of the cost of dumpers, containers, setting up incinerators and community bins -- to be self-financed. The VMC has already received Rs 50 lakhs of the Rs 2 crores promised by the GMFB.

Alongside the two incinerators planned in the north and west zones of the city, the report recommends increasing the capacity of the Wadi incinerator. Asnani says that though the Ministry of Environment and Forests required hospitals, nursing homes, dispensaries and pathological laboratories to handle their own bio-medical waste, the Corporation could act as a catalyst by creating common facilities for the smaller hospitals.

Peerzada said the civic chief would shortly convene a meeting of medical practitioners as they would have to contribute towards the facility.

Meanwhile, orders for 300 garbage bins have been placed to bolster the current number of 200 -- in accordance with the estimate for 520 such bins the city needs -- that will also cover 42 open garbage sites. According to civic officers, once the containers were received these would also be placed in the areas near the railway tracks.

The city generates about 500 metric tonnes of solid waste daily; the VMC claims to tackle 450 metric tonnes of it every day.

Asnani's report also says hygiene standards in the eight landfill sites close to residential areas have to be upgraded, unqualified staff trained and citizens directed not to dump household garbage in the streets.

Though the authorities foresee no problem in preparing the infrastructure, the VMC could face an uphill task managing human resources. With the move to recover administrative charges failing, the VMC will have to step up its drive against litterbugs, Peerzada said, adding that the task would be easier now that senior officers were in charge of ward offices.

The civic officers also hope that the recent suspensions of safai workers and some supervisors could perk up clean-ups of the city. Though Asnani suggests safai workers blow a whistle to indicate garbage collection time, Peerzada, however, said the step was undesirable unless the VMC was equipped totally to handle the rush. Also, he said, safai workers' unions had to be sounded out on the scheme.