Give us separate bins for waste, residents tell Noida

Noida: Residents of Sector 51, where door-to-door garbage collection was implemented in January, say it is a great initiative, if implemented properly. However, problems abound. Sanitation workers have no fixed timing, also, residents have not been provided with two bins, and garbage segregation is not taking place. Interestingly, Sector 51’s Shivkala Apartments, a society with 100 flats, has been managing segregated waste for a year now.
Harendra Singh, a retired Army officer and Sector 51 resident, said, “We have found these workers have no fixed timing to collect solid waste. Most residents are working professionals and they leave for office in the morning. But these workers come any time between 9 am and 3 pm. Residents can’t wait for them, and hence, solid waste sometimes remains at their doorsteps.”

He said that the workers sometimes also skip their duties. “They also do not inform us in advance. Noida Authority should fix responsibility of these workers.”

In addition, residents said there’s no mechanism for disposal of e-waste. This also makes residents vulnerable to data theft if their discarded phones, laptops or digital gadgets are misused. Hardip Singh, another resident, said Noida Authority launched the initiative but never came for feedback. “There is need for a sustained awareness campaign among people to provide segregated waste. The Authority should get people’s feedback before rolling out the programme for entire Noida.”

While Authority workers collect garbage from Sector 51, its neighbouring Hoshiyarpur village residents continue to face issues. There are three-four spots between Sector 51 and Hoshiyarpur where garbage is regularly dumped. Residents demanded that the Authority addresses this problem too.

However, MM Jain, RWA president, Shivkala Apartments said, the society has been taking care of its own waste segregation for over a year now and has engaged a private agency for its garbage collection for Rs 10,000 a month. “We understand this is an important issue and so we provided two bins — green and blue — to each household. We then hired a private agency for collection, processing and disposal of waste,” he said.