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DIMAPUR — Dimapur city alone generates approximately 84 metric tonnes of waste in a single day, and all of this waste is disposed of at the designated Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) dumpsite.
The waste generation within the municipality keeps on piling up, especially the plastic wastes, informed DMC administrator Manpai W Phom, during the sensitisation workshop on the management of multi-layered plastics (MLP) and single-use plastics (SUP) held here at Hotel Acacia, on Friday.
The workshop, organised by Earth Alliance, was held in collaboration with the DMC, Team Better Dimapur and Department of School Education, with the concept designed by the Mumbai Sustainability Centre and Dalmia Cement.
With the amount of waste generated, Phom pointed out that if waste generation continues without segregation, filling the waste in a processing plant would not be possible. This responsibility rests with every household, he said.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]The municipal council or the government alone cannot resolve the garbage issue. It must be a joint effort, he emphasised, adding that schools have an added responsibility to address the garbage problem alongside their daily academic routines
The DMC administrator pointed out that, as per the 2022 data, there are 38,000 to 39,000 households which fall under DMC and that if all the households genuinely pay the residential sanitary tax, then the DMC can generate INR 24 to 25 lakh every month.
However, the DMC is receiving only about INR 4 lakh per month, he said.
In line with this, Phom said the council has started a survey of the households and announced that it will soon introduce a sanitation fee card, which will keep a tab on the number of households paying sanitation tax.
Earth Alliance founder Thangi Mannen informed that the landfill is accumulating in Dimapur and most of the waste is SUPs while 20-30% are MLPs.
With the National Green Tribunal, Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata, directing the DMC to shift the dumpsite, Mannen said that even if the DMC dumpsite is shifted, the municipal council will face the issue and obstruction from the neighbouring residents and colonies.
Mumbai Sustainable Center founder Rishi Aggarwal, emphasising the Safai Bank of India programme, said that it aims to provide a very simple and effective standard operating procedure - an action and performance-oriented programme.
The goals and objectives of Safai bank, he said, are to divert large numbers of MLP wastes away from the dumping grounds, provide a simple process for educational institutions and others to collect MLP wastes and ensure the safe disposal of collected wastes.
“Plastic bans do no work, don’t depend on the government alone, and do what is in your control. Behavioural change and conscious consumption are the two most important tools,” he said.
Team Better Dimapur president Mhonjan Lotha affirmed that the team will take it up as a mission. Schools and colleges are the only institutions that can deal with the plastic issue and spread or create awareness to others, he asserted.
At a press briefing held after the workshop, the DMC administrator, responding to a query on the failure of segregation of dry and wet wastes from households, said that the municipal council is in the process of introducing smaller vehicles designated for the collection of the wet wastes.
“We feel that if we can deal with wet wastes then 50% of the waste generation will be taken care of. Segregated collection of waste at the individual household level is difficult and at times to have own composting plant or deal with it at the household level is not easy,” Phom said.