KOHIMA, June 5 - The Nagaland waste management policy targets efficient management and proper disposal of waste and educate the people to segregate biodegradable, recyclable and inert waste at the source, an official said.
The Nagaland Integrated Waste Management Policy 2019, enacted by the State Government in February this year, covers all urban and rural areas of the State, said Deputy Director in the Urban Development Department and nodal officer of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Tarachu Fithu, on Monday.
He said the intention of the policy is to enable the community to reduce waste, reuse and recycle. As per the policy, the waste management scenario in the State is still by and large rudimentary in the absence of a proper policy or regulatory mechanism.
Of the urban areas comprising 19 urban local bodies of the State, only Kohima has a scientific solid waste treatment plant with 50 tonnes per day (TDPs) capacity.
The rest of the urban local bodies have all landfill sites, but they dump without any proper treatment. Waste production in the urban areas is about 342 TDPs, the policy pointed out.
There are no collection systems at present in the rural areas. But an inherent practice of source segregation of wet waste for animal feed considerably reduces the problem of waste management, it said.
The policy stated that some of the major issues faced in waste management, especially in the urban areas, are the availability of land, manpower, machinery and resources at the disposal of the authorities.
The policy stated that the Urban Development Department would ensure that all urban local bodies prepare an action plan individually as to how they will manage their wastes.
The Rural Development Department will ensure that all village councils prepare an action plan individually as to how they will manage their waste.
The Deputy Commissioner of all districts will ensure that solid waste management projects are included in development activities of towns and villages. � PTI
