Malerkotla residents seek bins, regular disposal of garbage

Mahesh Sharma

Malerkotla, July 28

Reacting to the Supreme Court slamming the national capital civic body over the “sorry state” of solid waste disposal in the National Capital Region (NCR), residents of this region have also apprehended a public health emergency if drastic steps are not taken to tackle the poor state of garbage disposal here.

They have also sought the intervention of the Department of Environment to work out an immediate solution to the problem.

Though all local bodies are required to collect segregated garbage from domestic units daily and dispose it of properly, residents have to either breathe in polluted air or use their own vehicles to dump solid waste on the outskirts of their localities.

At some places, the situation is such that elected members, who are meant to assist government officials in providing the basic amenities to residents, had started holding dharnas at the offices of their own civic body. The dharnas were lifted after they were assured that the waste management arrangements would be strengthened.

The failure to implement guidelines regarding single-use plastics, inadequate space for dumping garbage and the lack of infrastructure for segregation and lifting of solid waste were cited as major factors behind the sanitation crisis.

The residents claimed that the authorities had failed to make use of facilities under the Swachh Bharat Mission. “Though officials had been organising workshops and seminars to sensitise residents on the need to prevent the contamination of environment with non-biodegradable materials, including single-use plastic, they have failed to implement the ban on single-use plastics and guidelines on waste segregation,” said Deepak Sharma, a senior Congress leader.

Taking into account the state of waste management, the Swachh Bharat Mission authorities had advised the officials concerned to act upon the suggestions of the directorate of the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC).

The poor sanitary conditions came to the fore following observations by a team of senior functionaries of the PMIDC led by Director Puran Singh during an inspection in response to a complaint made by Brand Ambassador Raj Sharma Trishul. He had sought the intervention of the higher authorities, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and the Local Bodies Minister.

Baling of dry garbage, processing of wet garbage, deployment of dedicated staff to sensitise residents about segregation at source and remedial steps were cited as the main suggestions of the mission.

Executive Officers at Ahmedgarh, Amargarh and Malerkotla said surprise checks were conducted regularly with the help of the Punjab Pollution Control Board and huge quantities of banned plastics had been seized from time to time.