After SC ban on construction, Maha Govt approves Rs 178 cr for solid waste management across 32 civic bodies

After the Supreme Court (SC) banned construction activity in states that do not have a solid waste management (SWM) policy, the Maharashtra government approved waste processing projects worth Rs 178 crore for 32 civic bodies.

On Tuesday, a high-power committee under chief secretary D.K Jain approved these projects for nine municipal bodies in Pune division, five in Konkan, six in Nagpur, two in Nashik, three in Aurangabad and seven in Amravati. It includes Panvel (Rs 21.84 crore), Matheran (Rs 32 lakh) and Ambernath (Rs 21.83 crore) in Mumbai's extended suburbs.

This will ensure cleanliness though segregation of wet and dry waste and scientific disposal and processing of wet and dry garbage.

The detailed project reports for 213 civic bodies, including municipal corporations and councils, have already been approved and of these, the tendering for 140 has been completed. So far, the segregation of waste has been launched in 236 cities and towns, composting of manure is being undertaken in 143 and 37 cities have started creating manure under the 'Harit' brand.

Last week, the SC stayed construction across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chandigarh and Uttarakhand for failing to frame a SWM policy.

Jain sought the branding of the compost created through segregation of wet waste and planning regarding the utilization of bio-gas generated. He also asked the urban development department to submit a status report about local self government bodies whose SWM projects have already been approved and sought that segregation of dry and wet waste at source, which was around 60% now, should be increased to 80%.

Mumbai generates around 8,000 metric ton solid waste daily, while the figure for all the 262 urban local bodies in the state is around 24,000 metric tons.

A senior official from the state urban development department said the state government had a solid waste management policy and rules in place but failed to place this on record before the apex court due to "miscommunication." He added they would file an affidavit soon to bring these facts to the notice of the SC and seek the ban be lifted. "The state has also come second in the nationwide Swacch Survey for 2018," he explained. Maharashtra has also claimed to be free from open defecation.

In April last year, the state government issued a policy for at-source segregation of waste from May 1, 2017. This was done vide the Centre's Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

The state's policy had specified that waste management plans be drawn up for individual cities and towns. Hence, segregation of dry and wet waste at source, door-to-door collection of municipal waste and its transportation through covered vehicles equipped with GPS sets, should be undertaken. While bio-degradable or wet waste was to be tackled through means like composting, dry waste was to be treated.

A state-level advisory committee under the principal secretary, urban development department (II) had been appointed in September 2017 to oversee the implementation of the rules. SWM measures are also being taken under the smart city projects and Swacch Maharashtra initiatives.

WASTE SEGREGATION

So far, the segregation of waste has been launched in 236 cities and towns, composting of manure is being undertaken in 143 and 37 cities have started creating manure under the ‘Harit’ brand.