Calcutta a dirty city?

An Assocham survey has ranked the city first in the country in the collection and recycling of solid waste.

Around 90 per cent of the city’s solid waste is collected by the municipal authorities, against 62 per cent in Delhi and 86 per cent in Mumbai. The figures for Bangalore and Chennai are 85 and 80 per cent, respectively.

The Assocham will soon organise a national conclave on solid waste management, where Calcutta’s example will be showcased before the civic authorities from across the country.

According to the study, the city generates around 4,000 tonnes of solid waste, against 6,000 tonnes in Delhi, 5,800 in Mumbai, 2,800 in Bangalore and 2,675 in Chennai.

Commenting on the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s solid waste management programme, civic chief engineer (conservancy) Arun Sarkar said: “This year, we’ll launch a project to segregate waste at source. A pilot scheme will be launched in at least one ward in each of the 15 boroughs.”

Koteshwar Prasad Dobhal, director (public relations), Assocham, said the study was “part of the organisation’s focus on Bengal... We carried out the study as most people outside Calcutta think the city is an unclean place. This study will, hopefully, dispel the myth”.

Assocham will soon present the study to the state government.