Waste segregation? Not so soon in these sectors...

Noida: Awareness drives, workshops and announcements notwithstanding, the habit of segregating waste at source is yet to sink in among residents of several sectors in Noida.
Though a fortnight has passed since the Noida Authority implemented the waste segregation drive, a tour of sectors 25, 27, 48, 56 and 99 revealed that a majority of residents are not sorting out wet and dry waste at source. The reasons vary from erratic waste collection to the need for more such workshops for people to inculcate the habit.
On Monday, Sector 56 was an isolated example of both residents and the private agency tasked with collecting waste adhering to the guidelines.
Hari Nandan, supervisor for the door-to-door waste collection programme in Sector 25 and a member of the RWA, said waste is collected twice every day and most residents follow the guidelines.
But Gaya Parshad, who is in charge of security in Sector 25, had a contrasting story to tell. He said that despite the two colour-coded bins specifying the types of waste, “residents dispose of unsegregated waste in the bins placed in the area”. “Also, the waste disposed of often goes uncollected at times,” he added.
The situation was not much different in Sector 27, where residents complained of arbitrary timings of waste collectors and unannounced arrivals. “The agency’s collection timings are extremely irregular and often, the collection vans do not come at all,” said Rajeev Garg, the RWA president of Sector 27.
In Sector 99, RWA president KS Sharma said that not only were the collection timings irregular, there were times when the agency’s employees did not turn up.
“This makes it particularly arduous for senior citizens and people with busy office schedules to rely on them. Residents have to often prioritise waste disposal in keeping with the agency’s convenience,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, in Sector 48, there were no complaints about the agency’s collection timings, but a general lack of awareness among the residents.
“A majority of the residents here do not segregate waste at source,” said Sumit Kumar, a waste collector.
RWA president Dinesh Bhati denied the claim and said the “entire programme is running smoothly”.
Asked why the project had failed to take off in most sectors, the NGO that had organised awareness drives blamed an apparent lack of initiative on the part of residents.
Mohd. Raza, project manager at the NGO, Adarsh Seva Samiti, said several RWAs had asked for more awareness workshops. “Waste segregation isn’t an overnight phenomenon. It is a habit that will develop over time,” said Raza.