Residents in New Capital, Kankerbagh and Bankipore circles of the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) can dispose of their garbage for Rs 60 a month from April.
The civic body will launch door-to-door garbage collection in the three circles on April 2, urban development and housing minister Maheshwar Hazari confirmed to The Telegraph on Sunday. The service will not be free, and charges have been fixed according to different categories. Each household in standalone households or apartments has to pay Rs 60 a month for garbage collection from the doorstep.
Hazari will launch the service on April 2.
"Through door-to-door garbage collection, we want to make the city completely filth-free," the minister said. The urban development and housing department, he added, was eyeing an effective waste management plan. "We are mulling setting up of garbage recycling plants in two to three wards of Patna, which can help convert organic and inorganic waste into compost. We have found a successful model in Muzaffarpur where the urban local body had installed such a plant."
While residents have to pay Rs 60, small vendors and shops will have to shell out Rs 100 a month. Marriage halls, coaching institution and nursing home owners will have to pay Rs 5,000 monthly and star hotels have to cough up Rs 10,000 a month for the service. Two Patna-based agencies - Patheya and Nishika - have been selected to execute the work in the three circles through tender. Both agencies have been engaged for three years.
Civic body officials will start collecting the monthly user charge from April end .
Patna municipal commissioner Abhishek Singh said the garbage collection work will not start in the Patna City circle in the initial phase because an agency is yet to be chosen. Tender formalities for the Patna City circle will be done soon, Singh said.
"We have also included a provision for imposing penalty on the private agencies if they are found not doing their job properly," he said. "In case we find the agency has not collected waste from an area on time or we receive complaint from residents about door-to-door garbage collection, penalty of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 will be imposed on the agencies under various categories."
Residents are eager for the work to start.
"Who likes to see garbage in front of their house? It spoils your mood for the whole day. It will be awesome if this programme is seriously implemented," said Nagesh Rana (43), a bank employee who lives in Kidwaipuri.
PMC officials also expect the project to be a boon for the city if implemented properly. "This door-to-door garbage collection drive will ensure the civic body takes charge of it and the waste is disposed of properly," said an executive officer in the civic body. "There are many people who would dump garbage at any place but this work will stop that. Garbage should not be seen anywhere in the city and this system can ensure this."
Tax collection
Commissioner Singh said 50 point of sale machines will arrive at the civic body on Monday and tax collectors will go door to door with the machines from Monday or Tuesday so that residents can pay taxes with debit or credit cards.
