The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is to undertake a week-long drive in which citizens would be able to send pictures to the civic body and report about dumped garbage which would be cleared by the solid waste management (SWM) teams.
The municipal corporation is to open a number- 9073367883 for reporting such garbage dumping. According to the member-mayor-council for the SWM department, Debabrata Majumder, the drive is to be carried out from 28 May to 3 June between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. “Whenever, a picture would be received, the garbage would be cleared within four hours by us. This is to make Kolkata garbage –free. Through this drive, the civic body also aims to conduct a study of the pattern of SWM.
The civic body has also decided to provide forms to citizens who are willing to come under the ‘thika’ system but are facing difficulties. According to the mayor, forms would be made available from 2 June at each borough office of the municipal corporation. “We are starting this for six months. It would be available from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. using tokens,” informed Mr Hakim. “But whoever takes the form would have to present his or her identity proof so that touts do not enter the system. We will issue the notice on this tomorrow in newspapers, ward offices in various boroughs,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the backdrop of the recent inferno at a hotel in Burrabazar that claimed 14 lives, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation along with other stakeholders has drafted standard operating procedures (SOP) to prevent similar incidents in the city.
The issue of fire caused by hawker encroachments on pavements echoed at the monthly meeting of Kolkata Municipal Corporation today. Opposition councillors, Bijay Ojha and Sajal Ghosh raised the issue at the House proposing specific policies to address the encroachments by hawkers as well as roads being occupied by illegally parked vehicles. BJP councillor Bijay Ojha even proposed that the trade licence be given only after the applicants obtain all the required clearances, including one from the fire department. Replying to the councillor, mayor Firhad Hakim informed that a set of guidelines has been prepared and has been uploaded on the website by the state government for which the first meeting of the stakeholders would be held next week. After the SOPs are drafted, they would be forwarded to the state cabinet for approval.