CAG report flags issues related to waste mgmt capacity of ULBs
Though many states adopted solid waste management rules in 2016, it took another two years to frame the rules in Uttar Pradesh to enforce penalty on violators. Apart from nagar panchayats and nagar palikas, the working of municipal corporations was also found to be lacking.
The audit, conducted between April 2016 and March 2022, found that out of the 45 urban local bodies evaluated, only three had implemented the rules.
No instance of segregation at source was found at that time. Pointing to dismal condition, the auditors noted that between 2005 and 2015, only 15 waste treatment plants were set up, while 36 more were sanctioned in 2021-22. Only Lucknow and Ghaziabad had the capacity to deal with waste during the said period.
The report noted that the average national waste treatment capacity is close to 46 tonnes, while in cities of UP that were examined, it was found to be 35 tonnes.
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Dubbing the treatment plant set up in Pratap Vihar under Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation as unfruitful, the report noted that though work on the plant was initiated in May 2017 with a budget of Rs 4.61 crore, it could not deliver and was not operational till June 2023.
An expenditure of Rs 15.4 crore was made on treating legacy waste. Similar was the fate of the waste-to-energy plant that was envisaged in Nov 2018 with a budget of Rs 14.3 crore in Ghaziabad.
The report said that delays in getting waste treatment projects operational were also detected in Lucknow (Shivri), Kanpur (Panki), and in nagar palikas and nagar panchayats in Bulandshahar, Muzaffarnagar, and Ballia.
Moreover, out of 1,659 tippers deployed for waste management, only 1,118 were found to have compartments to handle the segregated waste during the said period. Making recommendations to the govt, CAG report said that the state should ensure implementation of waste management rules across all the urban local bodies, strengthening of segregation at source and doorstep waste collection.
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