‘Civic body must find permanent solution for horticultural waste’

Ludhiana: Whereas the civic officials claimed to have arranged the compost pits in the public parks for settling the horticulture waste, the councillors in the municipal corporation (MC) general house meeting complained that these pits were not fulfilling the purpose and waste was lying there in the parks without any treatment.
They also said visitors to the public parks were complaining that the waste in pits left unattended rots soon stinking up the whole place and these should be cleared so as to avoid these issues.
However, MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal claimed that she has directed the officials to identify more locations where these pits are to be installed and these should be cleaned as soon as possible.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Amrit Varsha Rampal said, “There are big parks in the city, including Rakh Bagh and Leisure Valley, but the horticulture waste remains there in the parks. Pits are created but waste is not cleared on time.”
Congress councillor Pallavi Vinayak said, “In the parks, sometimes the pits are not even cleared for so many days and waste remains there. The officials should do something about the waste because public also complain about the foul smell coming from the pits.”
Usually pruning of trees goes all through the year, especially by the electricity department which cuts branches that touch the overhead cables. The heaps of horticulture waste lie on the sides of road for so many days.
A resident from Civil Lines, Prakash Jain said, “The horticulture waste is actually a severe issue because sometimes when the cut branches of trees are left lying on the road, it creates obstacle in the traffic movement. The authorities should find permanent solution to the problem.”
MC commissioner Aggarwal said, “We have conveyed all the superintending engineers to look out for spaces in the parks where pits are to be created and shredders are also provided to get rid of this horticulture waste. According to the directions of National Green Tribunal guidelines too, horticulture waste needs to be settled separate from domestic waste.”