Pune’s municipal night-cleaning drive is gathering 200–250 metric tonnes of waste nightly, but segregation is slipping—15–20% of it is mixed garbage, disrupting processing operations.
Absence of sorting staff at garbage transfer centres during night hours has worsened the problem.
Two sanitation workers were recently attacked while working at night, sparking concerns over their safety.
Pune, 25 July 2025: In a bid to present a cleaner city to citizens each morning, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has shifted its major cleanliness drive to night-time hours. However, this change has brought with it a pressing issue, waste segregation has significantly declined, leading to an increase in mixed garbage that is disrupting the city’s waste processing system.
The night clean-up, initiated under the directive of Municipal Commissioner Nawal Kishore Ram, began two weeks ago. Around 1,472 sanitation workers have been deployed across 15 ward offices, supported by 213 garbage collection vehicles. The focus is on sweeping roads, cleaning key markets, and collecting and transporting garbage between 9 PM and 6 AM.
Each night, the drive collects an estimated 200 to 250 metric tonnes of waste from major roads, public spots, and commercial zones. However, the volume of wet waste being dumped on the streets during the night has increased, forcing workers to collect unsegregated trash. According to civic officials, nearly 15–20% of the collected waste is mixed, containing both wet and dry garbage.
This poses a serious challenge at transfer stations and waste processing plants, where sorting staff are typically present only during the day. Without proper segregation at the source or destination, the waste becomes harder to process and manage.
Prithviraj B. P., Additional Municipal Commissioner, acknowledged the issue and said the share of mixed waste has risen during night collections and the administration is actively working on a solution.
Adding to the concerns, two incidents of attacks on sanitation workers occurred during night shifts in recent days. The civic body has flagged the need for better security measures to ensure the safety of workers involved in the late-night operations.
The PMC now faces the dual challenge of maintaining city cleanliness while ensuring proper waste segregation and the safety of its frontline sanitation staff.
