Waste generation down by 30% but collection from homes suffers

TNN | Updated: Apr 13, 2020, 12:15 IST

MANGALURU: The Covid-19 lockdown has resulted in reduced garbage generation in Mangaluru, but door-to-door collection of waste has suffered, especially in the interior parts of the city. Residents in many areas complain that the vehicles collecting garbage come once in two or three days, making it difficult for them to keep wet waste at homes.
The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) seems to be helpless as the workers engaged in waste collection are not able to report on duty due to the lockdown. “Many of our workers have gone on leave and left for their native places. They are not able to return due to the lack of public transport. Meanwhile, we have been striving to continue garbage collection with limited resources,” said MCC environment engineer Madhu Manohar.
He said the civic body is unable to complete garbage collection by 10.30am as directed by the government.
The shortage of workers at the dumping yard in Pachanady has affected segregation and other work. “Only those workers, who reside in the nearby places, have been reporting regularly. They have been managing the process efficiently,” he said.
Manohar said there has been 30% reduction in garbage generation after the lockdown. “We were collecting and transporting an average of 330-350 tonnes of waste from the city per day. Yesterday, the waste collection was 100 tonnes lesser than the average,” he added.