The blue and green dhalaos introduced by the SDMC for waste segregation at the destination point are meaningless unless the workers at the site are made aware of the entire process.
The dhalaos
To better manage the garbage disposal and segregation, the corporation had earmarked blue and green dhalaos [waste receptacles] across Dwarka for solid and wet waste, respectively. But, quite evidently, things haven’t gone as planned.
A resident of Sector 12, NK Singh, said, “The dhaloas were painted green and blue for segregating wet and dry waste. The aim was to make waste management easy. But unfortunately, even if garbage is segregated at source, everything is dumped together at dhalaos because the mechanism is not perfect yet.”
In Dwarka, waste segregation and solid waste management has been burning issue, but unfortunately, a proper mechanism is still lacking.
For segregation, the SDMC has been distributing big-sized dustbins to societies. According to sources, societies only in Ward B have been given the dustbins so far, and the rest would be covered by month-end. On the other hand, societies that are segregating garbage can see their efforts coming to naught at the dhalaos where the basic rules are not being followed.
Akash Ganga Apartments of Sector 6 has been doing waste segregation for quite some time now but are not happy at the way the segregated waste is being treated.
The society president, JC Vashisht, said, “They mix the garbage again at the destination point or dhalaos — what then is the use of segregation? I want to know why the authorities are imposing segregation on us when the whole system is not perfect.”
Distribution of dustbins, too, is not even. Residents of wards that have not received the dustbins are not sure what to do.
Anurag Bahl, coordinator of Sector 7 RWAs, and a resident of Shruti Apartments in Sector 7, said, “In our sector, societies have not received dustbins. Also, the approach of the authority seems half hearted.”
City Spidey visited the dhalaos for a reality check.
The waste that’s dumped is no longer segregated, and is being mostly managed by ragpickers. A corporation official at the dhalao was clueless about the process — which colour is meant for what kind of waste.
General secretary of Dwarka Forum and a resident of Shivam apartments in Sector 12, SK Goel, said, “No change is seen in Dwarka as far as garbage disposal is concerned. I have seen mismanaged dhalaos. So what’s the point of segregation at source level. I don’t understand why the SDMC imposed rules on us without sprucing up the system.”
The imperfections notwithstanding, the SDMC continues to push waste management.
Deputy commissioner of SDMC, Najafgarh Zone, Sanjeev Kumar, said, “We are planning to provide one big composter in each ward so that the wet waste is converted into compost. Also, we are promoting the composters, and we’ll offer subsidy on it for societies. In a few months, we should be able to instal composters at dhalaos in each ward.”
