In a bid to promote its renewed initiative for the segregation of wet and dry garbage, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to rope in activists and residents of several housing colonies in the city.
Civic officials, along with environmentalists and members of the Advance Locality Management (ALM), will participate in an ‘eco mela’, to be held later this month at Powai. Residents from the area will be introduced to NGOs that work towards garbage management and door-to-door collection of segregated waste.
“On the one hand, we are contributing towards cutting down on the tonnes of garbage that reach our over-burdened dumping grounds every day and on the other, we are trying to create employment opportunities for the marginalised section,” said Kalpana Shinde of the Stree Mukti Sanghatana, an NGO that trains ragpickers to collect and segregate the garbage generated in households across Mumbai.
On January 14, some of these ragpickers will be introduced to representatives of housing colonies in Powai keen on hiring their services, which include collecting dry waste like newspapers and empty bottles or tins.
“The ragpickers then sell these items to scrap dealers while kitchen waste can be composted in the building compound or nearby parks and gardens,” said environmentalist Elsie Gabriel.
Civic officials point out that garbage management in the city can only be successful if wet and dry waste is segregated before it is collected from the doorsteps of residents. “Just this simple procedure will reduce nearly 20% of the total waste generated in the city,” said R Biradar, assistant municipal commission of S-ward.
Activists estimate that the city generates more than 6,500 metric tonnes of waste daily, of which nearly 15% can be recycled or reused while another 40% is biodegradable waste.
“If we follow simple segregation guidelines, we will be cutting down on a significant amount of garbage that makes it way to our dumping grounds,” said Suman Basu, a Powai resident and ALM member.
Last year, the BMC had drafted bylaws that would make segregation of waste mandatory for every household and commercial establishment.
The civic administration also has plans to levy a fine of Rs1,000 on housing colonies or businesses that don’t segregate their garbage.
