A group of residents from Dalanwala concerned about the cleanliness of their colony have started work on cleaning and beautifying the area with the help of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun and a local NGO.
Along with representatives of Waste Warriors organisation, the Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harak Singh Rawat and senior city health officer Dr RK Singh had earlier offered their full support including the provision of land for composting.
The transformation project was launched on Monday with a clean-up drive on Municipal Road. local residents came to help and Drona’s International School sent some of its students to participate in the clean-up.
Garbage bags and gloves were distributed and participants were educated about the importance of waste segregation at source and what would happen to the garbage that was collected.
local shopkeepers were visited by members of the NGO who appealed to them to keep the perimeter of their premises clean and provide dustbins for their customers to use.
Waste Warriors will be assigning two permanent staff to clean in the colony on a daily basis, will be constructing composting enclosures for garden waste and conducting educational Children’s Days. Garbage, construction waste and garden waste will all be removed and gutters thoroughly cleaned.
Dustbins for use by the general public are also to be installed. A cycle rickshaw has been donated so that waste can be collected and transported.
The residents welfare association’s Dr Mahesh Bhandari said, “We hope that Dalanwala can be an example for other localities to follow. We are also grateful to MCD for its support.”
Recyclable waste was collected separately so it can be further segregated by Waste Warriors staff and sold to a recyclable waste dealer.
Non-recyclable waste was taken to the trenching ground on Sahastadhara Road and garden waste is to be composted at a plot in Dalanwala which has been allocated by MCD to the NGO.
Construction waste is also being collected separately as per the Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2000. Waste Warriors CEO Jodie Underhill said, “We are confident that the project will be a success considering the response we have received from local residents.”