Noida orders waste segregation at home, RWAs say not possible

NOIDA: The order by the Noida Authority that RWAs should arrange for segregation of garbage at houses from July 1 has led to protests from residents and RWAs. Accusing the Authority of being dictatorial, the RWA federation said it would take up the matter the Authority CEO and chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Accusing the Authority of having failed on several fronts, including civic, health, sanitation and traffic, the RWAs demanded that the solid waste disposal should be tackled at the work circle level.

They said the Authority should set up 10 heavy duty compost machines at the circle level, instead of forcing over 200 RWAs to purchase the machines and arrange for segregation.

Anil Garg, a local resident said, “The Authority officials, bureaucracy and local administration have failed. According to the authority, the treatment of waste has to be done at its point of origin — homes and residential sectors. This is not possible as all RWAs are not competent to take on this responsibility. It’s not a practical solution.”

“When the NGT order was passed on October 24, 2017 for segregating municipal solid waste, why didn’t the Authority inform the tribunal of the practical problems. It will take time to set up compost machines on sharing basis and to separate compost from segregated waste (as all RWAs do not have compost machines and most do not agree to bear the 25% cost). This cannot be done by June 30,” added Garg.

Pawan Yadav, a member of FONRWA, said if penalties can be levied on civil or jal department contractors, why not on officials of the sanitation and health departments.

N P Singh, president, FONRWA, said, “We will take up the matter with the Authority CEO and the chief minister. Noida Authority has failed on all counts of its handling of civic duties. While residential sectors are stinking with unattended garbage, there’s an ongoing sanitation strike which never seems to end. They’re systematically privatising all services including their civic duties while the resident is left to bear the heavy costs. We will not allow this and protest on the streets,” said.

On Wednesday, the authority released a rate list to be charged from residents for door-to-door collection of segregated MSW once they finalise a private agency for the job.

On this, RWA federation has reacted saying the move is against the interest of residents who are already paying for sector upkeep and sanitation. “The authority has already hiked water tariff, the residents are paying from their pockets for sanitation and garbage disposal. Now they’ve added more charges on residents. We pay taxes and it’s the duty of authority to provide civic facilities to the residents,” added Singh.

While the segregated door-to-door waste collection project is touted at reportedly Rs 370 crore, tendering for the project is expected to begin in a couple of months. This was disclosed by CEO Alok Tandon in a meeting with the media last week on June 8.

However, since over 40 years of Noida’s inception, there has been no clarity on a waste disposal plan or what technology is to be used as officials only named models being used in Singapore, Poland and the United Kingdom but did not explain how they could be adapted for Noida during Friday’s meeting.

Meanwhile, the city reels under garbage dumps in the absence of a designated dumpyard even as authority readies itself to begin dumping waste at Sector 123 amid mass protests from residents of the area.