Stuck in the muck: Panchkula's waste drive falters despite years of push
As per the latest Swachh Survekshan 2024-25, waste collection has failed to cover all households, leaving 39% of the areas underserved. Besides this, segregation at source has not met desired results, with only 20% of waste being segregated, says the survey.
Residents say that the data could differ from the 'worse' ground reality, despite the fact that they pay annual collection charges to the Panchkula municipal corporation and monthly charges to private door-to-door garbage collectors.
'Collectors mix segregated waste'
The president of the Federation of Residents Association (FORA), R P Malhotra, stated, "The ground reality is more worrisome. As far as wet and dry waste segregation at the source is concerned, even if the residents segregate it, the collectors mix it. They have not made separate waste containers in their carts. The failure of the municipal corporation is evident in the fact that garbage collection has still not reached every household.
The agency responsible for the task is earning quite well. However, it has not been held accountable. To top it all, we are paying double charges."
Echoing similar views, S K Nayar, president of the Citizens Welfare Association, commented, "We have stopped giving waste to MC's collectors as they were not segregating the waste and collection was irregular. We have now hired private collectors, who segregate the waste.
The real question is why residents are paying for waste collection and segregation at two levels when the system is still not functioning properly.
It's high time it is improved. Besides this, collectors or residents who are dumping the waste in the open in different parts of the city should be penalised."
Additionally, the absence of the city's own waste processing plant is a significant hindrance to effective waste management.
The city's solid waste is sent to Ambala for processing. There is neither a processing facility nor designated dumping areas for horticulture and construction and demolition waste. They too are found dumped here and there. Waste generation vs processing was given a 51 per cent score in the survey.
A silver lining
On a brighter side, the city got 99 per cent marks for the remediation of dumpsites. However, residents find the score higher when compared to the remaining legacy waste.
As per the MC, the high score is due to the clearing of the dump at Jhuriwala by remediation of the legacy waste. The remaining dump at Sector 23 is expected to be cleared soon as the work is in the final stages.
Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal told TOI, "We have recently distributed bins in Sector 15 to encourage segregation. We are also improving the system. As far as waste collection is concerned, it stands at 61 per cent because the garbage is not getting lifted from slums or colonies — which are with some HSVP and it is not possible to implement it there — and housing societies, where people have their own arrangements."
Box:
CLEANLINESS CHECK or DUMPS N DATA
State of solid waste management ((as per Swachh Survekshan 2024-25)
Category | Score
Source segregation | 20 per cent
Door-to-door collection of waste | 61 per cent
Waste generation vs processing | 51 per cent
Remediation of dumpsites | 99 per cent
MSID:: 122818563 413 |
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