Though residents are segregating kitchen waste and placing them in the blue and green dustbins, the trucks in charge of transporting the waste are mixing them up.
Segregation of solid and wet waste, one of SDMC's most ambitious projects, has not met with any success, thanks to the proper monitoring of waste collection and lack of infrastructure in the sub-city.
Though residents are segregating waste in their houses and placing them in allocated blue and green dustbins, the trucks in charge of transporting the waste often mix the two while dumping them in dhalaos.
MK Verma, a resident of Sector 12, said, “This is happening because there is no proper system of collection and disposal from the source to the final point.”
Segregations at dhalaos are being done by ragpickers, and the waste is finally transported to landfill sites, where there is no monitoring either.
JC Vashishtha, president of Akash Ganga Apartments in Sector 6, said, “The very purpose of introducing the segregation model and allotting dustbins to societies is lost, because ultimately waste gets mixed up in the dhalaos.”
Sunil Chaitanya, a resident of Sector 10, says, “SDMC had circulated a notice saying that residential societies that do not segregate their waste will be fined. However, their own implementation leaves a lot to be desired.”
People also allege that SDMC's callous approach is discouraging residents from taking the waste segregation project seriously.
Speaking to City Spidey, Vishal Gupta, treasurer of Lovely Home Apartments in Sector 5, said, “The casual approach of the municipal corporation has affected waste segregation at the source level. Even those residents who were undertaking segregation seriously have slackened, as they know the waste is going to get mixed up anyway. The corporation should really pull up its socks.”
Most of the officials from the sanitation department were not willing to comment on the issue. However, on condition of anonymity, one officer said, “The supporting ecosystem and infrastructure for waste segregation is not competent. We, too, want the project to become successful and Dwarka to become waste-free. However, we don’t know when this will happen.”
