Compost pits in parks, but no respite from waste burning

LUDHIANA: The Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) has failed to solve the problem of organic waste in the city, despite making several claims to have done it, and now the residents are burning this waste.
The MC had planned on installing compost pits in the city parks to convert the green waste into manure, but some park managing committees had objected to it so they had instead installed iron frames in some parks to collect green waste and shift it to the nearest compost pit. However, now several cases have come forward in areas like Model Town and Dugri, where the waste is being put to fire inside these iron frames in the parks.
A city based activist Kapil Arora had also filed a complaint about this problem, and asked the civic body to crackdown against the issue.
Arora claimed that many park management committees have also been found to be indulged in burning of the organic waste. He informed that incidents of burning of organic waste had come to the light in Chattar Singh Park in Model Town, the park located in Dugri phase-I, and on the on roadsides at two different locations at Chandigarh Road.
He urged the MC to conduct regular meetings with park committees, roadside vendors and shopkeepers, besides the civic sweepers and sanitary staff to make them aware about the ill-effects of burning the waste. Besides, he asked the MC to organise street shows, and join hands with NGOs to address the issue.
He also asked the MC to form zone-wise wings of officers and horticultural staff, and to start a helpline where citizens could file complaints against those violating the norms.
Meanwhile, an MC official claimed that they have already planned to bring in shredders to process the organic waste generated in the city, and these would soon be installed in the parks, too. The organic waste will first be shredded and then put in the compost pits to convert it into manure.