Mohali MC to rope in private hand to drive waste segregation
Sanitation workers will sensitise households about waste segregation; waste segregation violations will be recorded via a mobile app linked to each household’s QR code
Stung by a dismal performance in the 2024 Swachhta Survekshan rankings, the Mohali Municipal Corporation (MC) is ramping up efforts to ensure proper waste segregation at source, one of its weakest waste management areas, by roping in a private player for door-to-door garbage collection for the first time.
Currently, garbage collection in the city remains disorganised, with both sanitation workers and residents failing to segregate waste at source.
In the rankings announced on July 17, Mohali fell to the 128th spot among 903 cities with population between 50,000 and 3 lakh — a sharp drop from 82nd last year.
Within Punjab, it slipped to the 11th spot among 35 cities, compared to first place last year among cities with over 1 lakh population.
Mohali scored 69.93% — earning 8,742 out of 12,500 marks — compared to last year’s 82.72% (6,204.20 out of 7,500).
Officials attributed the poor performance largely to non-segregation of waste at source and poor processing of waste generated —two key parameters in the central government’s cleanliness survey.
Tech-enabled monitoring
MC commissioner Parminder Pal Singh said, “For the first time, we are privatising door-to-door garbage collection and will float tenders next week. Our aim is to implement an end-to-end, tech-enabled, efficient waste management system in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.”
As part of the plan, sanitation workers will sensitise households about waste segregation.
Each household will be assigned a QR code, and violations, such as mixing wet and dry waste, will be logged in real-time via a mobile app with time and date. Repeat violations will be escalated to MC sanitary inspectors.
Collection vehicles will be required to have separate compartments for wet and dry waste and deliver it to Material Recovery Facilities without mixing. Any violation, including mixing of waste post-collection, will attract strict penalties as per the Service Level Agreement.
Three plants set up for waste processing
To improve processing, MC has also set up two waste management facilities at Shahimajra and Jagatpura villages, where shed construction and machinery installation is complete.
A Panchkula-based agency has been hired to install waste sorting equipment at both sites. While dry waste will be processed here, wet waste will be sent to another shed in Phase 3A. The Shahimajra plant has a daily processing capacity of 40 tonnes and the Jagatpura facility can handle 80 tonnes per day.
These steps come in the wake of the Punjab and Haryana high court ordering closure of the Phase 8-B dumping ground, leaving the city with no designated dump.
CSR-funded park upkeep
Meanwhile, in a bid to improve park maintenance and reduce financial strain, MC has also decided to hand over five major city parks to private companies under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) model.
Mohali currently has 798 parks, including 39 designated as “Special Parks” and 194 maintained by Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs). The plan is to bring 604 parks, including all 39 Special Parks and 565 others, under CSR to enhance upkeep and transparency.
