Bhubaneswar, March 21: The municipal corporation is set to make onsite segregation of waste compulsory for everyone from June 5 to effectively implement the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, of the Centre.
The Union ministry of urban development, which has set the deadline of June 5 to attain the goals, is also celebrating it as World Environment Day. The Centre has asked the urban local bodies to spread awareness about the need for waste segregation.
"We have already initiated the process of encouraging waste segregation at source in the city. We have placed colour-coded bins and asked citizens to dump biodegradable waste in the green bins and plastic and other non-biodegradable waste in the blue ones. We have decided to put up 4,000 such bins across the city," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
Jena said the state government would soon notify the byelaws under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, after which the fine amounts and other modalities would be fixed.
"We are committed to keep the city clean and green. We will make efforts to sensitise the people and encourage onsite segregation of waste," the mayor said.
Earlier, the civic body had identified more than 100 bulk waste generators and asked them to have proper facilities for treatment of their own waste.
"The bulk waste generators have been asked to create facilities to segregate and treat their waste on their premises. In the next step, individuals will also be asked to do the same," said Jena.
According to the new Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the civic body can collect Rs 100 to Rs 250 as fine from households, Rs 150 to Rs 1,250 from commercial establishments, Rs 500 to Rs 2,500 from small industries and Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 from big industries and establishments.
In February, municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar had tweeted that segregation and onsite treatment of waste to be made mandatory for hotels, hospitals, apartments and malls.
"There should be co-ordinated efforts from everyone to achieve the objective of a clean country. We cannot rely on the civic body or other sanitation agencies all the time. We need to help ourselves and keep our surroundings clean," said Dinesh Mishra, a resident of Patia.
