The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) will charge residents and commercial establishments for door-to-door garbage collection from November.
Deputy municipal commissioner Vishal Anand told The Telegraph: “The user charge has been mandated under the Swachh Bharat Mission, as points are added for such charge during surveys. The user charge will also make the people aware about cleanliness. We are yet to decide on the amount.”
User charges were imposed on residents and commercial establishments earlier as well when door-to-door-garbage collection work was entrusted to two agencies. One was the Patna-based Nishka Intelligence and Security Services and the other — People’s Association for Total Help and Youth Applause (Patheya) from Delhi.
While households had to pay Rs 60 a month, owners of small shops and commercial establishments had to pay something between Rs 300 and Rs 10,000 in the previous set-up. Services of both the agencies were, however, terminated this April.
The agencies would point to the residents’ reluctance to pay “user charges” and claim financial strain. While the civic body provided monetary assistance to the private agencies initially, the agencies were supposed to provide the Patna Municipal Corporation Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 2 crore in its second and third year of operations, respectively. At the time of termination of services, the agencies had completed only a year.
Swachh prod
Civic commissioner Anupam Kumar Suman held a meeting with municipal corporation officials on Friday in which the strategy for the 2019 Swachh Survekshan survey was chalked out. Suman instructed officials to get all work completed before December 31, 2018, as the rankings would be decided on work done till then. “PMC workers or organisation responsible for cleanliness will be fined in case they are found negligent under the Solid Waste Management Rules. Bins will be removed from all major roads in the city and all wards have to be made open-defecation free before December 31. Besides, 500 toilets have to be installed,” Suman said.
