You are Rupali Sharma, a resident of Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi. You have read the TOI article and you are deeply concerned about the lack of sanitation and spread of disease due to lack of timely garbage collection by civic authorities. Write a letter to the Editor of the Times of India expressing your concern and suggesting a few possible solutions to end the garage mess.
Answers
Answer:
At a time when the national capital is reeling under increasing load of solid waste and struggling with its scientific disposal, the civic bodies have initiated a fresh drive to tackle the issue head-on. The East, South and North Municipal Corporations have undertaken several steps by converting certain wards under their jurisdiction into “model wards”.
Janakpuri South, which was declared a model ward by the SDMC in early May, witnessed mixed compliance from residents. While people The Hindu spoke to acknowledged that civic body officials had visited their homes and urged them to segregate garbage, total compliance was a long way off.
Akash, who collects garbage from about 70 houses, said people still don’t segregate the waste despite the awareness drive.
Explanation:
At a time when the national capital is reeling under increasing load of solid waste and struggling with its scientific disposal, the civic bodies have initiated a fresh drive to tackle the issue head-on. The East, South and North Municipal Corporations have undertaken several steps by converting certain wards under their jurisdiction into “model wards”.
Janakpuri South, which was declared a model ward by the SDMC in early May, witnessed mixed compliance from residents. While people The Hindu spoke to acknowledged that civic body officials had visited their homes and urged them to segregate garbage, total compliance was a long way off.
Akash, who collects garbage from about 70 houses, said people still don’t segregate the waste despite the awareness drive.They are supposed to sort the waste, but they don’t. If I tell them to separate degradable and bio-degradable waste, they say it is my job. I end up segregating the garbage myself. Though most of the garbage gets segregated, a few wrappers or pieces of paper might be sometimes left behind,” he said.Amit Sharma, a resident, had a different take. He said for the last two months, his household has been only giving dry waste to the garbage collector. Wet waste, on the other hand, is sent to a compost plant in the locality once or twice a week, depending on the amount generated that week.However, Sunita Nakul, an RWA member in one of the blocks, claimed no real initiative has been taken on waste disposal. “While the residents were told to segregate the garbage, the person who comes to collect it throws it in a single dustbin where it gets mixed,” she said.
According to officials, in Trilokpuri, which falls under EDMC jurisdiction, work is in progress to ensure compliance. Even as a handful of residents said that waste segregation at source takes place, others were caught unawares regarding the provision.
Surya Bhanj, residing in lane number 13 at Trilokpuri, attested that officials had visited her house a few months ago and demonstrated how to separate waste. “Around three to four months ago, we got designated bins. Officials who came to distribute the bins demonstrated how to segregate dry and wet waste. Since then, we have been doing it ourselves and when the garbage truck comes, we empty the waste in designated bags.”
However, for Heena and Aarti Devi, living a few lanes away, the concept of segregating the waste at home is a new one. “We are not aware of it. We either empty our household waste directly into the garbage trucks or keep it on the roadside. The garbage collector picks it up from there directly,” they said.