Solid waste management in Ludhiana

Col Jasjit Singh Gill (Retired)

Recommended To-do list post Rs 100 Crore fine on Ludhiana Municipal Corporation by National Green Tribunal (NGT)

1. Demarcation afresh of the Tajpur Solid Waste Dump to settle it’s boundary.
2. Building a wall of RCC material all around the dump and side by side reducing the height of legacy waste hillock so that in any future fire, its ambers do not endanger people living in its surroundings.
3. Leachate from the new garbage  and old legacy waste needs to be tackled in a more scientific manner to stop ground water pollution which so far has not been tackled. There is a need to sow Vetiver or Khuss grass and give it normal water irrigation for three months before the fields are ready to take on the Leachate of the garbage dump for years to come collect. Leachate can then be pumped it into levelled fields of plantation of Vetiver or Khuss grass.
4. Earmarking separate areas on the Solid Waste Garbage Dump for (a) dry waste(b) wet waste(c) separate composting normal (d) separate Vermi composting  area (e) Area for Leachate collection, storing and pumping.
5. There is no proper authority to look after the solid waste dump, officers were looking for some Sanitary Inspector to answer the visiting NGT monitoring team. That indicates lack of command and control structure for such a huge enterprise which is effecting the health of all Ludhiana citizens.
6. Therefore, establishing a proper sub-department  in Municipal Corporation headed by an Additional Commissioner and comprising a subordinate team of officials including health and cleanliness officials is necessary. They will be duty bound, answerable and responsible for collection, segregation, transportation, proper processing and dealing with remnants of waste as necessary. A simple contract to a contractor to deal with solid waste which has been happening so far and resulted in this fiasco of garbage is not enough.
7. All matters on file dealing with health of citizens need to be fast tracked from sub department to Finance Committee dealing with solid waste, water, sanitation and Buddah Darya needs to be marked “Red” so that at no level any official holds on to ,delays or procrastinate on decision regarding it.
8. A new solid waste garbage dump site can be earmarked on the west side for population expansion and reducing the transportation costs drastically thus saving on tax payers money.

(The author is member, State Task Force, Buddah Darya Rejuvenation)

Note: The recommendations stand for all Municipal Corporations in Punjab and have been uploaded by The Punjab Pulse as a citizen health charter.