PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has stopped purchasing plastic buckets for dry and wet garbage as corporators are purchasing them generously without any audit. Now, the PMC has decided to provide financial aid to societies to process garbage in their premises.
The State government gave the approval to provide plastic buckets to citizens for segregation of wet and dry garbage in 2003-04 during Sant Gadge Baba Swachata Abhiyan. The decision was taken by then Municipal Commissioner T C Benjamin. However, it turned into a tool for self-promotion by the corporators. The corporators were purchasing buckets from ward development funds and distributing them to citizens with their names painted on the buckets. The corporators were using maximum ward development funds before the civic polls.
In 2015, former mayor Vaishali Banker had pointed out in the General Body meeting that plastic buckets purchased by the civic body were on sale in Andaman Nicobar Island market when she had gone for a trip. There were also allegations by civic activists of corruption in the purchase of buckets.
Rajendra Nimbalkar, Additional Municipal Commissioner, stopped the practice from last two months. He decided not to approve any allocations for purchasing plastic buckets. He said, “We have found that the civic body purchased 13 lakh plastic buckets. It is wastage of money as there is no detailed record about purchasing and distribution of buckets. The corporators were distributing buckets in posh societies. On the other hand, slum dwellers were using buckets for other purposes, instead of segregation of dry and wet garbage.”
“Now, citizens will have to purchase plastic buckets. On one hand, we are motivating citizens under the Swachh Bharat Mission and going to charge for garbage collection. We are providing them free plastic buckets. It is contradictory to how civic bodies function. Therefore, we have taken a decision to stop purchasing plastic buckets,” he added.
He further said, “We are framing a policy that instead of giving free plastic buckets, the civic body will give financial assistance to societies which want PMC’s help to process society garbage in their premises.”
The PMC’s Solid Waste Management Department has begun sending notices to housing societies which are generating more than 100 kg garbage per day for not processing garbage in their premise.
BUCKETFUL OF CONTROVERSIES
- The State government approved providing plastic buckets to citizens for segregation of wet and dry garbage in 2003-04
- Corporators were using ward development funds for buckets.
- Ex-mayor Vaishali Bankar found some of these buckets in Andaman-Nicobar.