Parliamentary secretary and Rajpur Road MlA Rajkumar chaired a meeting with the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harak Singh Rawat and other municipal officials on Monday and issued instructions for redressing the problems being faced in maintenance of civic sanitation in the State capital.
Rajkumar said that the MCD is responsible for ensuring that waste generated in homes and commercial buildings is collected and dumped in community bins but this is not visible on the ground. Garbage bins should be put black in the places from where they have been removed to maintain sanitation. The MCD should have at least 100 large garbage bins but has only 56 and whereas it needs 300 small bins it has only 231. The corporation should have 60 small vehicles- one each for the 60 wards but has only 40. The MCD should also have at least 10 mini trucks for garbage
disposal task but has only two at present. The parliamentary secretary expressed disappointment at the lack of proper cleaning in town and stressed that the shortage of regularised sanitation workers should be redressed to improve the level of sanitation in Dehradun. Responding to Rajkumar, the MNA said that necessary action would be taken by the MCD for achieving the desired level of civic sanitation in the State capital.
It is pertinent to mention here that at least 200 metric tonnes of solid waste is generated in Dehradun every day and most of this is not yet being disposed scientifically. It is expected that completion of work on the Rs 24.6 crore solid waste management project under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) will help improve sanitation here. However, factors like shortage of staff and resources along with official apathy continue to worsen the level of sanitation in the State capital.