First Model Ward With 100% Waste Management At Source To Be Set Up By BMC

At Mumbai’s Andheri West, the city’s first model ward with 100% waste management at source is set to be established. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has commenced this pilot project in electoral ward 61, highlighted a report by the Indian Express.

The civic authority’s solid waste management (SWM) department as part of this project will curate a mechanism to reuse as well as treat all of the ward’s generated waste at the source so as to eradicate reliance on dumping grounds. According to officials, the said pilot project will take three months for completion and if successful will be implemented in all electoral wards.

The report further elaborated that based on the civic authority’s data, every day ward 61 makes 33 metric tonnes of garbage, out of which over 70% is wet waste like food. The remaining wet waste includes plastic and clothes.

The BMC will be encouraging to set up waste treatment and segregation facilities not just in its offices, but also in housing societies. Dr Sangita Hasnale, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, SWM department, elaborated that since the ward has many buildings, people will be first sensitised on waste segregation after which decentralized centres for waste treatment will aid in the scientific removal of waste. Self-help groups for sorting and reusing dry waste will be participating as well, she said.

Under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the treatment of waste at the source is one of the pivotal requirements. At present, all 33 metric tonnes of waste generated from the ward is sent to dumping grounds through four waste transporting motors.

An official elucidated that if we are able to treat all the waste at the source, fuel, transport cost and ancillary operating expenses will be saved in addition to the stoppage of dumping waste in dumping grounds, stated the narrative.

The civic authority has made bulk waste generators mandatory for housing complexes and establishments making over 100 kg of waste daily or possessing an area of more than 20,000 sq m. 

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