NEW DELHI: A third-party audit on waste management by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) has revealed that robust door-to-door collection continues to be a key area of improvement for Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The study, submitted to MCD recently, recommends action plans for achieving a global benchmark in waste management.
The audit report talked about strengthening the bulk waste management system, improving street sweeping, establishing a comprehensive monitoring system (command-and control centre), comprehensive capacity-building programme and strengthening secondary collection and transportation, among other initiatives.
The report, however, stressed upon ensuring door-to-door waste collection and integrating it in the scope of construction and transport contracts of concessionaires. Methodical elimination of the garbage vulnerable points (GVPs) was another point it emphasised on.
“After consultation with various stakeholders by the team members, it was found that the contractors doing door-to-door collection provided services to RWAs, bulk waste generators and commercial establishments through rag-pickers,” the ASCI said. However, factors like narrow lanes, high-density areas, lack of access to roads and behavioural issues are challenges in the collection process.
ASCI suggested engaging an NGO for implementation of door-to-door collection in 12 selected wards (one ward in each zone), training and capacity building for the identified NGOs, and ward nodal officers. “Thereafter, it should be scaled up by developing zonal-level plans for door-to-door collection, development of micro-implementation plans, appointing dedicated nodal officers at thee zone level for on-ground monitoring and doing proper monitoring for performance evaluation,” the report suggested.
An MCD official said the report was a study. “We will take up a few of their action points for implementation. However, there are certain areas where we need to obtain clarity,” the official said.
Bulk waste generatorsTo strengthen bulk waste management, the report recommended identification and notification of bulk generators, developing waste collection and transportation systems for such generators, establishing a helpline to guide implementation of on-site treatment systems for generators, a monitoring system for compliance and penalties for non-compliance.
The report stated: “Segregation of waste at source is not up to the mark. The operation and maintenance mechanisms for composting units is not clear for bulk waste generators. Lack of monitoring to track the existing on-site processing and treatment systems affect overall performance.”
Street sweeping Low coverage of sweeping on secondary roads – mostly alternate days — as well as low coverage due to unauthorised parking, deployment of informal workers by communities, street waste being dumped on the roadside or in bins are factors that affected the sweeping process. “Though the collected waste is picked up by auto tippers, there is a lack of coordination between street sweepers and concessionaires regarding vehicle pickup timings,” the audit report said.
Besides developing specialised sweeping plans for diverse areas, the report suggested the enforcement of parking regulations to ensure that sweepers can access and clean the entire street.
Real-time monitoringFor overall improvement of waste management, suggestions were given for establishing information management and data systems, maintaining e-records, CCTV and app-based spot monitoring for sanitation staff.
“Real-time monitoring for levying penalties on concessionaires, strengthening citizen complaint redress mechanisms and citizen engagement platforms after linking them to monitoring systems are other measures that need to be adopted on priority,” the report added.