PMC hikes penalty of bulk waste creators

Will also halt their property tax rebate; but societies counter that paying the fine is more affordable than setting up wet waste mgmt plant on the premises

Despite Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) taking stringent action against bulk waste generating societies since 2019, their numbers have ended up increasing within civic body limits over the last one year. Now, considering the situation, PMC has ramped up its fine to Rs 15,000, depending on the number of violations by rule-breakers.

However, society representatives have countered that even this fine range of Rs 5,000-15,000 is quite affordable compared to the money they would be required to pump into the mandated wet waste management plant on their premises.

Typically, PMC gives a 5 per cent tax rebate to housing societies that process wet waste within their premises. Bulk waste generators — which basically host more than 100 houses — are expected to have running the wet waste management plants on-site. But according to PMC’s most recent survey, a total of 3,051societies across its limits do not seem to be processing waste at all. In the majority of these complexes, the said plants are not working, due to which they send their waste to PMC plants for processing. In 2019, the number of societies following norms was found to be 254, while 310 were violating the rules. In a recent inspection, PMC found out that the number of properties violating the norm have gone up to 3,081. Apart from this, out of 692 bulk waste generators in total, 30 were found to have no system of waste processing at all.

Finally, the civic body has decided to step up action against violators. Along with an order to stop waste collection from such societies, PMC will levy a fine of up to Rs 15,000 on these properties and the discount given on the property tax will also be halted.

Speaking about the decision, PMC additional commissioner Kunal Khemnar said, “These properties have been reaping the benefits of a tax waiver for the last several years, but since they were not processing waste for which the discount was given, we have decided to cancel the rebate. Notices have been served and fines will be levied for violations on all these societies. We are also going to get these societies to start the required waste processing projects. While we are ready to commit to some hand-holding, the process needs to start. PMC will stop collecting waste from such premises. Moreover, some societies are yet to be checked. We have instructed our ward officers to appoint squads and check each property in their jurisdiction.”

One of the areas where such notices have started filtering in from PMC is Kharadi. Nitin Memane, president of Kharadi Housing Societies Welfare Association (KHSWA), said, “Private players are picking up wet waste at a much lesser price. If a society has to operate a wet waste management plant, we face an expenditure of Rs 30,000 per month, plus investment of Rs 3-6 lakh for the plant. An operator will also have to be appointed and a culture needs to be maintained. Private players obviously provide the service at a much lesser rate. So, many people opt for private players for waste disposal rather than operating plants. This fine of Rs 5,000-15,000 is very low considering the math. It will not help if PMC wants to see change. Societies prefer to just pay penalty.”