‘Sustainability is key to waste mgmt’

Mumbai gets 3,700 million litres of water every day of which 2,500 mn lt turns into sewage. We aim to get every drop of water back to the city AJOY MEHTA, BMC chief

Private sector experts along with officers of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) highlighted various initiatives for waste management and disposal at the Indo-US Waste Management Innovation Conference on Monday. BMC chief Ajoy Mehta said the city generates 9,000 metric tons of waste a day of which around 3,500 mt ton is being treated at Kanjurmarg and 3,000 mt ton will be treated scientifically through waste to energy plant at Deonar dumping ground.

Mehta mentioned that both citizens and the municipal corporation should initiate efforts to tackle waste disposal. “Segregation of waste begins at home. The corporation steps in when there is large quantity of waste to be procured. We are trying to tackle waste management in a cost effective and transparent way so that the process is sustainable and the cycle continues,” Mehta said.

Private sector experts focused on treating waste effectively as an important factor in building smart cities. Thomas Vajda, US Consulate General, said, “Various cities abroad are adopting different methods of treating construction waste, electronic waste and non-biodegradable waste.”

Mehnaz Ansari, Country Representative of US Trade and Development Agency, said, “We are open to work on various measures for the development of Mumbai into a smart city. Sustainable infrastructure projects for waste management are an important factor for this conversion.”

BMC aimed at converting its sewage water into drinking water. Mehta said, “Mumbai gets 3,700 million litres of water every day of which 2,500 mn lt turns into sewage. We aim to get every drop of water back to the city and will begin with processing 45 mn lt water in Colaba area in the next 18 months.”

Industry experts questioned BMC about the inefficient techniques of waste management. Pundlik Awate, chief engineer of BMC, said, “There are loopholes in the systems of BMC as some projects are not initiated even though the tenders are appointed. Civic officers get transferred so it is difficult to find out who is responsible.”