MANGALURU: Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC), that is battling to manage its solid waste, put urban local and panchayati raj bodies dependent on it for managing their waste, on three months notice. While directing ULBs and panchayat raj bodies to compulsorily segregate their waste at source, before handing it to the MCC for disposal, the civic body said it will stop accepting the same after three months, and they must make their own arrangements to handle it.
A discussion centring on the recent high court judgment in wake of the Pachanady landfill disaster, dominated the monthly council meeting on Wednesday, where mayor Divakar announced the above decision. Commissioner Akshy Sridhar, while agreeing with the assessment of the opposition, that the ULBs and gram panchayats cannot be overnight asked not to send their waste to the Pachanady landfill, said they will have to meet the waste segregation norms.
“The ULBs of Ullal city and Bantwal town municipalities and Kotekar town panchayat, and 15 gram panchayats abutting the MCC limits are dependent on MCC’s landfill at Pachanady. These bodies should be given time to make their own arrangements to handle their solid waste, the commissioner said. In addition, these bodies must also clear their past dues owed to MCC for handling waste, which is a flat rate of Rs 500/tonne of waste dumped,” he said.
Earlier, responding to queries from corporators, Madhu Manohar, environment engineer, said that the MCC has directed the above ULBs and gram panchayats to send only segregated waste to the city corporation’s landfill. “We will not accept mixed waste henceforth,” he said. With the recent Pachanady landfill disaster, MCC will have to stop processing waste from other urban local bodies and gram panchayats sooner than later, Madhu said.
Abdul Ravoof, leader of the opposition in the council, said it was a matter of shame that the high court had to censure the city corporation for its tardiness in handling the landfill disaster. The affected families had to obtain relief from the high court, which in its judgment has given a terse direction to the MCC to mitigate the sufferings of families and settle their claims at the earliest. Sridhar said MCC is in the process of complying with the directions of the HC.