City councillors want proper system for solid waste management

They attend workshop on ‘Solid Waste Management strategies and action plan to improve overall service delivery for Mangaluru City Corporation’

Expressing concern over improper collection and disposal of household waste, a group of city councillors on Tuesday expressed the need for a systematic process to ensure 100% collection and disposal of household waste.

The councillors expressed their views at a workshop on “Solid Waste Management strategies and action plan to improve overall service delivery for Mangaluru City Corporation” convened jointly by the city corporation and the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) at the corporation council hall.

Councillor Sudhir Shetty Kannur said that though the corporation is spending 40% of its revenue towards solid waste management, it has failed to properly collect waste and dispose it of. The agency, which has been assigned waste collection, has failed to properly discharge its duty, he said.

Councillor Varun Chowta from Hosabettu ward said that there are many areas in his ward where waste is not being collected from houses regularly.

Kadri South Councillor Kadri Manohar Shetty said that it is necessary to collect waste at a prescribed time every day. Dry waste has to be collected at least twice every week, he said.

Councillor Sangeeta R. Nayak from Pachhanady ward said that dry waste is not being processed properly. She said that this is getting mixed with wet waste and landing at the Pachhanady landfill site. Of the 250 tonnes of dry waste that is collected every week, only about 20 tonnes are being processed.

“If dry waste is properly transported and processed, then the corporation will succeed in treating the entire waste that is generated,” she said, while appreciating the use of “Black soldiers” for processing wet waste.