Date:16/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/16/stories/2008061659060300.htm

New Delhi

Waste segregation method poses a threat to public

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI: This is the latest irritant plaguing the waste segregation system in the Capital. Civic agencies in the city have been advised to avoid “polluting and spilling while segregating plastic from general waste at dhalaos”.

A senior waste management official said: “We noticed that while the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council were doing their bit to ensure that plastic waste is segregated from the general waste, the actual process of sieving was causing pollution and nuisance as the waste was often being left strewed across the area allowing rag-pickers and stray animals to rummage through them.”

He added that the matter was also discussed at a recent meeting of senior officials’ in-charge of sanitation in the city, where the civic bodies were advised to take immediate preventive action.

“For a city that has a dense human population, we cannot allow waste to the strewn across the road polluting the area and exposing the general population to a host of diseases. Now with the monsoon here, the city needs to be prepared to manage its waste. We have conveyed our concerns to the civic bodies’ in-charge of waste segregation. Segregation is happening at the cost of hygiene. The problem becomes a source of grave concern when waste at ‘dhalaos’ close to large hospitals are subjected to segregation exposing the rag-pickers to serious injuries and health hazards,” said State Programme Officer (Bio-medical Waste) K. S. Baghotia.

“It was also noticed that those engaged in waste segregation at the ‘dhalaos’ were working without proper training and equipment exposing them to injuries which is something that needs immediate attention,” he added.

The State Department of Environment had initiated a plan to train rag-pickers to ensure clean segregation and collection of waste. Senior Scientific Officer in the State Department of Environment B.C. Sabata said: “Under the programme we managed to train 4,500 rag-pickers last year and we have a target to train another 5,000 rag pickers this year.”