Waste segregation and collection yet to pick up

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Nov 24, 2016:  Launched a fortnight ago with renewed vigour, segregating waste at source and its collection as dry and wet has failed to pick up in all 60 wards in the city.

After trial collection of waste in the entire Court ward and some blocks of Bejai, Kodialbail, Kambla, Mannagudda and Derebail South wards covering 5,000 houses from April 2015 failed, Mangaluru City Corporation re-launched the initiative extending it to all wards from November 1, 2016.

Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt. Ltd., the contract agency of the corporation collecting and transporting all waste from the city, pressed into service seven vehicles painted in yellow exclusively to collect dry waste on a weekly basis from the wards.

Ganapathi Bhat, a resident of Gorigudda, said that ever since the corporation announced collection of segregated waste he kept separating the waste for two weeks. No vehicle painted in yellow turned up for collecting dry waste separately. Now, he is mixing up the waste like earlier before handing over it to the garbage collecting vehicle painted in green. Echoing Ganapathi Bhat, Jaya, a home-maker from Deepa Residency, Kodialbail, said that dry waste is not being collected separately from her apartment.

Activist Gerald Towers said that in his Shivbagh area too dry waste was not being collected separately. Mr. Towers said that the civic body has not taken up the awareness drive intensively in all wards.

“I don’t think 70 per cent people in the city are aware about the drive. The campaign should be taken up intensively by distributing pamphlets and meeting people in all wards,” he said.

Santosh Nair, Mangaluru Project Head, Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt. Ltd., said that now the focus is on collecting segregated waste from apartments and malls. The collection is yet to start from many individual households. It would be done in a phased manner.

The company has taken up information, education and communication activities on the drive in malls and other areas.

“Dry waste collection is happening in some areas. It is yet to be collected from many other areas,” he said.

Corporation Commissioner Mohammed Nazir said that as the drive started only a fortnight ago, it is yet to pick up in “full swing”. It would take some time, he added.