‘Local bodies must raise awareness on waste disposal’

In view of the recent revamp of the Solid Waste Management Rules, local bodies have been asked by the environment ministry to come up with plans to ensure that generators collect and dispose waste as per three segregation categories — dry (plastic, paper, metal etc), wet (biodegradable) and domestic hazardous (diapers, napkins, mosquito repellents etc) — as notified in the act.

Sources said this, the environment ministry has urged local bodies, should be achieved through a widespread public awareness campaign to educate them about the new rules failing which they will have to face penalty.

“There is a provision of penalty in the new rules for those who litter and do not segregate the waste,” said the sources, adding, “Of course, this will not be done immediately as people will have to be made aware of the norms first.”

“This is just the beginning of something extraordinary. If we want to achieve the target of making our country clean we will have to swiftly move into the direction of being responsible ourselves first at the domestic level.”

A senior environment ministry official said that it has been left to the local bodies to decide on the fine they would charge for anyone violating the new rules in future.

For bulk generators, the ministry officials said, that a concept of “partnership” has been introduced.

As per the new rules, “bulk and institutional generators, like market associations, event organisers, hotels and restaurants, have been directly made responsible for segregation and sorting the waste and manage in partnership with local bodies”.

The new rules also mandate street vendors to keep suitable containers for storage of waste generated during the course of their activity, such as food waste, disposal plates, cups etc and ensure that the waste reaches the nearby waste storage depot or container, which was not the case so far.