BMC turns heat on housing societies

Mumbai: Housing societies, which so far turned a deaf ear to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) calls for segregating garbage on their own, are now facing the music. The civic body has threatened to fine and prosecute these societies for failing to segregate the garbage into dry and wet waste.

H-West ward, comprising Bandra, Khar and Santacruz areas, tops the number of housing societies (5,328) that have been sent notices by BMC for not segregating their waste. R/Central (Borivali, Dahisar) and G/South (Parel, Worli) are second and third in the list that have been sent notices with 4,771 and 3,365 housing societies respectively.

In the period from January to May this year, BMC has sent notices to over 23,000 housing societies across the city asking them to segregate the garbage into dry and wet waste. It has made it mandatory on them to provide two types of garbage bins within their premises – one for dry waste and another for wet.

“The failure to comply with this will attract fine varying from `100 to `10,000 and stoppage of collection of waste from the society. We will also prosecute them if needed,” said Siraj Ansari, chief engineer, solid waste management (SWM).

The notices have been issued under the Greater Mumbai Cleanliness and Sanitation Bye Laws 2006 making it mandatory on housing societies to segregate dry and wet waste. Along with H/West, R/Central and G/South wards, G/North (2,345), H/East (1,972) and S (1,600) are the other wards, where the notices have been issued to housing societies in large numbers.

This is in addition to BMC making it compulsory for bulk waste generators to dispose of garbage in their premises only. The bulk waste generators include big housing societies, five star hotels, malls, industries etc, which produce more than 100 kg of waste daily. According to civic officials, as per the provision of Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2016, these bulk waste generators have been asked to provide facilities like organic waste converter, vermicomposting, biomethanation etc in their backyard to treat the waste at source.

While currently only 40 per cent of the housing societies in the city are carrying out waste segregation, the SWM officials aim to achieve 100 per cent results by the end of the year. “We know that it’s a very stiff target. But we have to strive hard by creating public awareness on this issue,” an official said. Every day, over 8,000 metric tonne (MT) of garbage is generated in the city, most of it unsegregated. The BMC carries it to three dumping grounds at Deonar, Mulund and Kanjurmarg but is unable to process it. But with the capacity of two of its dumpsites — Mulund and Deonar — already having been exceeded, the civic body has expedited its efforts to tackle the garbage menace. The court has set a deadline of June 30 for BMC to discontinue dumping garbage at Mulund and Deonar. The BMC is dumping 2,500 MT of garbage at Kanjurmarg dumping ground and processing it.

To promote waste segregation, residents have called for a more concentrated effort from BMC to enlighten people. “There is a need for extensive public awareness if BMC is serious about implementing waste segregation,” said Kandivali resident Hemant Mantri. “Many of the people would not know how to distinguish between dry and wet garbage. They must be enlightened by undertaking a public awareness campaign. Help from local NGOs can also be taken in this regard,” he said..

Waste segregation

• Segregation is the split of biodegradable waste from non-biodegradable waste for proper recycling.
• Improper segregation may cause mixing in landfills.
• This can lead to toxic release in the ground and eventual contamination of groundwater.
• Methane gas, a harmful greenhouse gas, can be released in such situations.