Mission To Segregate Waste All Mixed Up, Running Out Of Time

With 10 Days Left To Deadline, North Corporation And Residents Blame Each Other

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New Delhi: While there are fewer than 10 days left for North Delhi Municipal Corporation to enforce segregation of domestic waste, there doesn’t seem to be any urgency on the ground, with many residents, RWAs and market associations even claiming to be unaware of the November 1 deadline.

Though the civic body claimed to have called several meetings with residents to explain the procedure for segregating waste into dry and wet stuff and the consequences of not doing so, the RWAs and residents of Civil Lines, Kamla Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar told TOIof their reluctance to fall in line. In fact, when TOI visited Mukherjee Nagar and Kamal Nagar, garbage collectors were picking up mixed waste from homes. There also were no separate compartments for the segregated trash in the municipal vans.

Nitin Kumar Goel, president, Civil Lines Welfare Association, reported that waste was still being collected by private operators without segregation. “We will cooperate but the corporation has to make an effort to approach us,” he said. “I haven’t received any official communication saying it is mandatory to segregate waste.”

Private waste pickers are necessary because municipal garbage vans do not collect trash regularly, said Jatin Sehgal, joint secretary, Citizens’ Welfare Association. “The waste collectors segregate the garbage themselves. They take out the recyclable waste and then dump the wet waste in the dhalaos,” he said.