In an attempt to create a strong Solid Waste Management (SWM) plan for the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has adopted a participatory approach from various stakeholders.
As part of this, an online consultation session was held between senior BMC officials of the SWM department and members from residential organisations, NGOs and ALM groups.
"As part of the c40 cities campaign, Mumbai is coordinating with more than 300 global cities towards making the city cleaner and greener and facilitating eco-friendly waste management. We are working jointly with citizens as their inputs are important to us for formulating these guidelines," said Sunil Sardar, deputy chief engineer, SWM adding that suggestions from Mumbaikars will be taken into account while framing a concrete policy of waste management in the city.
He said that suggestions have been coming on the usage of mechanical sweeping systems and segregation of wastes. "All these inputs will be taken into account while amending existing policies," he said.
Mario Fishery - ALM member from Carter Road, Bandra and member of Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF) said that to ensure that solid waste is collected from each and every residential building a specific time slot is being allocated for vans to visit and collect the garbage.
"Almost everyone in Chapel Road is following this time slot thing and now we are planning to implement it across the H/West ward," Fishery said.
He also maintained that suggestions were floated to the BMC to identify the root cause of various civic issues like sewage disposal in seawater.
Rajul Patel, Shiv Sena corporator from K/West (Andheri West, Juhu), said that a West segregation model has been started in her ward on a pilot basis, that will be implemented in a phased manner in all the 24 municipal wards.
"Instead of depending on the SWM department, we have appointed private contractors and NGOs who would collect the garbage directly from the houses of the people in exchange for cash or some kind from them. This will encourage more people to segregate their garbage on their own," said Patel.
