GUWAHATI, Nov 2 � Guwahati is all set to get rid of dustbins with overflowing filth if things go ahead as planned by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC).
The new solid waste management programme, being introduced by the GMC, envisages making Guwahati a dustbin-free city by the next two years. The ambitious plan will introduce garbage transfer stations in every ward of the city. A specific area will be designated in every ward for collecting the segregated garbage.
Based on the idea of segregation of municipal waste at the primary level, the plan includes separate mechanisms to deal with dry and wet waste generated in the city. Soon the corporation will make it mandatory for every household, shop, etc., to comply with the specifications regarding separate bins at every household for both types of waste.
GMC Commissioner S Viswanathan told The Assam Tribune that the corporation would enter into a tie-up with the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Guwahati, for recycling of the dry waste produced in Guwahati.
�The NGOs would collect the segregated waste and transfer the wet waste to the transfer stations located in every ward of the city. These transfer stations are high-capacity stationary compactors, where garbage will be stored in airtight containers. Once filled, these containers will be transferred to the GMC�s organic manure producing unit at Boragaon,� he added.
Dry waste, on the other hand, will be taken directly to the CIPET for recycling. Once this arrangement works out, dustbins and garbage points will be removed from the city in a phased manner.
The corporation has initiated the process of setting up transfer stations on a pilot basis at Rupnagar and Basistha. Such stations will be set up in two kathas of land in every ward.
The mechanism, supposed to simplify the garbage management system, is running successfully in some other parts of the country.
The corporation is also planning to increase the capacity of its organic manure production unit from 50 MT per day to 200 MT per day by March, 2015.
�The compost unit of the GMC has been a successful venture and it is producing organic manure by the name of GMC Organic Compost, which is also being marketed at the rate of Rs 2,000 per MT,� added the GMC Commissioner. The plant follows a simple segregation process in which plastic, solid materials and large particles of the garbage are removed and the rest of the garbage is allowed to dry till the moisture content settles down.
