Parel leads way in decentralised model

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) F/south ward has successfully implemented a decentralised model of collecting and segregating waste. Based on the model, around 252 volunteers from local non-governmental organisations (NGO) were given tenders to collect waste and segregate it from door to door.

The tender had proposed the disposal of garbage from 256 chawls and 14,500 houses in the ward. The volunteers employed by NGOS were paid ₹6,000 a month by the civic body.

They collected trash from individual households and transferred the waste to segregation facilities. Conventionally, it is a Bmc-appointed contractor who collects the waste, which is then only segregated after being dumped on BMC plot.

Decentralisation is the new method for waste collection, which focuses on segregation at the ward-level instead of giving a single tender for waste collection, said Milind Mhaske, director, Praja Foundation, during the launch of the hand book on solid waste management on Thursday. “The BMC’S centralised method is not working. In the F/ South ward, approximately 20% of the garbage is being composted at the ward level. If this model is replicated across the city, then the rate of waste generation can be reduced,” said Mhaske.

A former officer from the ward said the decentralisation process should be replicated across the city.

“We had previously penalised societies and bulk generators that did not segregate waste, which helped reduce garbage collection.”