FIR against 18 housing societies, commercial units for not processing waste

In a drastic step, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has filed FIRs against 18 housing societies and commercial establishments for failing to set up wet garbage processing units on their premises.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the action against the bulk waste generators comes almost four months after the civic body made it mandatory for large societies and commercial establishments to segregate and process waste.

The members of the concerned societies and the establishments have been booked under section 53(1) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act. Incidentally, five out of 18 establishments were in Chembur.

While the offense is bailable, the members can face a maximum Rs 5,000 fine or two years in jail. Apart from the 18 establishments, prosecution notices for non-compliance have been sent to over 1,300 bulk generators.

Last year, the BMC stopped collecting wet waste from housing societies and establishments that were generating over 100 kg waste daily or covered an area of over 20,000 sq.m.

The civic body had identified 3,365 such bulk generators across Mumbai at the time, out of which 1,064 are segregating and processing waste currently, while 676 have sought an extension from the BMC.

The civic body had earlier set a deadline of October to enforce the rules. However, the deadline was extended in the wake of protests from several affected establishments.

Notices were sent to all such establishments and legal action was only taken against the ones that failed to acknowledge them or submit a plan.

Since the new policy came into effect, the BMC has recorded a drop in the waste sent to dumping grounds from 9,600 metric tonnes daily to 7,100 metric tonnes every day. It plans to bring it down further to 6,000 metric tonnes in the near future.