A dust bin at Bepari Sahi in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, June 11: The civic body has decided to put a stress on systematic disposal of solid waste in the city.

The newly elected council of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation has approved the proposal of overhauling existing door-to-door solid waste collection system. It has also decided to place adequate dustbins in all its 59 wards.

“It will procure 800 dustbins for better collection and disposal of solid waste. On an average, five dustbins will be provided to each ward after finalisation of tenders within a month,” said deputy mayor of the municipal corporation Ajay Barik.

Barik said that a budget of about Rs 10 to 15 lakh had been earmarked for the purpose.

“Our locality lacks dustbins, for which residents are forced to dump garbage on the roadside, which ultimately gets nearly two to three days to get lifted,” said Ajay Das, a resident of Kanika Chhak in Cuttack.

He further said that the two dustbins that were installed in the area last year have been lying damaged for the last six months.

Apart from Kanika Chhak, several other localities also lack dustbins even though compact bins have been placed in as many as 36 wards where the entire process of solid waste collection and disposal is being managed by Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation had entered into agreement with Ramky for collection and disposal of solid waste in the city in 2011.

Ramly is engaged in systematic collection and disposal of garbage from about 102 transit points in various parts of the city.

“There has been no change in the poor sanitation scenario because of inaction of the civic officials. We hope that things will improve once additional dustbins are placed in our locality,” said Amrita Das, a resident of Purighat.

Sources said that the councillors had unanimously approved the decision as absence of adequate dustbins contributed to poor maintenance of sanitation in the city.

Though about 300 dustbins were installed by the previous council of the corporation in 2012, most of those are lying damaged.

“We hope the overall sanitation scenario will improve once additional dustbins are placed in various wards. We are now trying to ensure that the residents use the dustbins to dump their household solid waste, which can be easily disposed by our sanitary staff from there,” said city health officer P.K. Pradhan.