Societies must vow to sort trash in 3 months

Mumbai: Despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Cor-poration (BMC) relaxing the deadline for waste segregation and treatment, the sword of civic body not collecting garbage is still dangling over housing societies. The civic body has decided to seek a written assurance from them by October 10 that they will undertake waste management in their premises within three months. Failing to produce the undertaking by that time, the BMC will not collect garbage from the housing societies, warned civic officials.

The civic body had threatened not to pick up garbage and fine and prosecute housing societies for failing to segregate the garbage and treat it on their premises by October 2.

The notices were issued under the Greater Mumbai Cleanliness and Sanitation Bye Laws  2006, making it mandatory on housing societies to segregate dry and wet waste and treat it.

However, due to fierce pressure from corporators, the civic body later decided to relax its deadline by further three months. However, the housing societies must give a written assurance that they will undertake waste management projects within the stipulated period, said civic officials.

According to civic data, out of the 5,304 housing societies that have been issued notices, 373 have started waste management plants in last four months. In addition to this, 97 societies started their plants from October 2.

“We will send notices to housing societies again, asking them to produce written assurances by October 10 that they will set up waste management projects within three months. Otherwise we will not collect their garbage,” said a senior civic official.

However, civic activists have claimed that housing societies are facing difficulties due to several factors such as lack of space and funds.

“Though societies have shown inclination for implementing waste management projects, they want some incentive saying that

BMC cannot put the onus entirely on them,” said Nikhil Desai from AGNI.

Who all have to set up plants?

The BMC had made it compulsory for bulk waste generators to dispose of garbage on their premises only. These include big housing societies, five-star hotels, malls and industries, which daily produce more than 100 kg of waste and have an area of more than 20,000 square metres. They have been asked to provide facilities like organic waste converter, vermi-composting and bio-methanation in their backyard to treat the waste at source.