Small bins a big problem as garbage overflows on roads

Surat: By removing nearly 1,100 containers from city roads, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) will save about Rs 20 crore annually.
However, the 1,300 odd small garbage bins that replaced the larger ones on roadside in commercial areas have become new sites for waste pile. The amount of waste generated in many areas is huge to be contained in small bins. As a result, at many places, waste is spilled on roads.

The civic body paid Rs 430 per container as lifting charges to the contractor whose vehicles were hired to lift the garbage and dump it at disposal site. More so in this section of garbage cleaning, there were 258 employees (safai kamdars), 50 drivers and 50 cleaners who were employed. All these will now be used in general cleaning. Free drivers and cleaners will also be employed in other services.

“We will be saving about Rs 1.90 crore on monthly basis, which was the duplicate work expenditure. In all in a year, about Rs 20 crore will be saved and used in other areas of cleaning,” deputy commissioner of health , SMC, Dr Ashish Naik said.

As an indirect benefit, these container spots, which had become home to some stray dogs, cattle and even houseflies, are now clean and look neat. “The spots, especially in Varachha, Katargam, Limbayat and Udhna, had become place for disease spreads and were not good for health and hygiene,” Dr Naik said.

However, the litter bins put up in some commercial areas of the city are now becoming dumping spots. The civic body has placed more than 1,300 such litter bins till now in commercial areas and it plans to put these bins from the money of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity of some companies. In all 13,000 such bins are planned at 50-100 metre distance of each other in all the zones.

“Like we had issues at few spots when we lifted containers last month, we have issues of waste pile at litter bins in areas like Varachha, Udhna and Limbayat. Our teams have identified 125 such spots out of 1,300,” said a health official adding, “Our teams will be placed at such spots for awareness, to learn the pattern of garbage that is thrown and bring about a solution to this,” he added.

SMC officials feel there are some commercial establishments whose people throw all their daily garbage in these bins instead of giving it to door-to-door garbage collection vans. Such people will be sensitized and in some cases may be penalized for not adhering to the cleanliness rules.