Municipal workers collect waste in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, July 10: The garbage collection system in the state capital is not just slow and messy but also in complete violation of the norms laid down by the high court in 2008.

According to the high court order, passed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by non-government organisation People’s Watch, the civic authorities were supposed to put in place a proper system of collection, segregation and transportation of garbage by December 2008 and an authorised land filling system by March 31, 2009.

Such a system is yet to be implemented.

“I had filed a PIL in high court in 2006 to implement Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. The court had ordered the authorities to take necessary steps at the earliest. However, nothing has been done. It is contempt of the order. I might file a contempt of court petition to bring this matter to the notice of the judiciary,” said Arvind Kumar, convener, People’s Watch. Arvind is a lawyer at Patna High Court.

Sources said at present, door-to-door collection of household garbage by the civic agency was limited only to nine wards of the city. The waste collected is not segregated, and 800 metric tonnes of mixed garbage is dumped at the landfill site at Ramachak Bairiya, though the civic body is yet to get an environmental clearance for it.

While Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has failed to keep the roads spic and span, residents are also responsible for the unclean streets.

“Several people in my neighbourhood do not give their garbage to the people who come to collect garbage. Instead, they just throw the waste material on to the street,” said Seema Prasad, a resident of Ram Nagari Colony.

Vikas Jha, deputy general manager, A2Z Infrastructure Pvt Ltd said: “We get garbage from around 70 to 80 per cent of the households in the nine wards. We do not collect segregated garbage as that would be of use only if there is a solid waste management complex. ”