DNA : Mumbai can be clean too : Sept 29, 2007

'mumbai can be clean too'
ap reforms officers says city's garbage woes can be overcome with efficient
disposal system
sandeep ashar

the man who cleaned up a small town in andhra pradesh believes that this can
be replicated in mumbai.
sa khadar saheb managed to make the municipal council of suryapet in andhra
pradesh garbage-free and is confident that this can be done in this city
too.

the municipal reforms officer of the andhra government's solid waste
management department was in the city to participate in a national
conference of urban space management organised by the india urban space
foundation and the ministry of urban development. on thursday, saheb and his
team, whose efforts have already been acknowledged by the united nations,
were awarded the india usp urban implementation award, in recognition of the
'dustbin free and zero tolerance garbage project' at suryapet.
saheb, who will talk about his experiences on saturday, said mumbai's
garbage woes could be overcome with efficient zonal or ward-wise disposal.
the city spews over 8,000 tonnes of garbage, comprising organic, inorganic,
biomedical waste, construction debris and drain silt. despite spending rs600
crore and employing more than 28,000 people, the brihanmumbai municipal
corporation (bmc) has just not been able to manage zero garbage tolerance.
in contrast, suryapet generates barely 22 tonnes of garbage and the fact
remains that its population at barely one lakh people is much lower than
mumbai's. this does not deter saheb. "you do not need additional landfill
sites for garbage disposal but need to focus on door-to-door waste
collection and punish those guilty of littering," he said.
mumbai disposes 95 percent of its garbage at three dumping grounds and needs
more open spaces which can be converted into landfill sites.
as saheb added, "compost organic waste and recycle inorganic waste and use
banned plastic to build roads. construction debris and silt which make up a
major share of waste can be used in low lying areas. we will help the
municipal corporation if needed."

Publication : DNA; Section : mumbai; Pg : 7; Date : 29/9/07

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