In little more than one week, Swachh Bharat Mission will complete a year, and the PSUs operating in the capital seem to have conformed to the ideals of the initiative. Out of the five PSUs headquartered in Ranchi, almost all of them have kept their offices and townships clean, courtesy — smart waste management and outsourcing duties, when required.
Cleanliness in almost every PSU offices and residential colonies is overseen by third party agencies, responsible for collecting and dumping the waste generated there.
“The area to be covered, combining the official complex and township, is beyond the ability of our workforce. So cleaning the streets and collecting waste from the houses and offices are managed by an outside agency which is selected by tender. The collected garbage is then dumped at RMC dumping grounds in Jhiri,” said CCl Town Administration DGM Bipin Kumar.
The only exception to this trend is Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC). Its cleanliness is RMC’s responsibility and they are very particular about it, HEC sources said.
“RMC waste collection trolleys timely visit HEC Township, I can tell from personal experience. As far as our offices are concerned, our own staff has been given the responsibility of cleaning them. Compared to the rest of the city, we are in a better position in regard to cleanliness,” said HEC PRO Hemant Gupta.
Some have even devised clever ways to dispose their refuse, and conserve some resources along the way. Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) is running its very own waste paper recycling plant and waste water treatment plant.
“The waste paper generated in our offices are sent to the recycling plant, and the recycled paper made here is used for making drafting pads and file covers. We do not have to purchase these two items of office stationary, but use the ones made in-house, and we produce enough to meet the demands,” said CMPDI Town Engineering General Manger Prabhu Nath Rawat.
He further added, “Also, the water used in kitchens and bathrooms is filtered at the waste water treatment plant, and is then used for horticulture purposes. Plants and trees within the company headquarter are watered using this filtered water only. Only during monsoon is waste water released in drainage system.”
CMPDI office buildings have been made fit for water harvesting and around forty percent of the energy consumption there is met by solar energy, sources mentioned.
PSUs are not entirely spotless either, small mounds of condemned furniture or glass panes unfit for use or steel frames can still be found. But this gap in cleanliness measures is temporary, PSU officials said.
“Such refuse can come from any department and is gathered at one place. It is then later disposed by auction; we ship it to our central store in Barkakana, from where it is auctioned, or auction it as is and where it is,” Rawat said.