Gurugram waste violators to be fined via water bill

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Saturday formed six special teams to check violations by bulk waste generators (BWGs) in the city and said that they will begin linking the water bills of violators to the challans in a bid to recover pending dues.

Officials said despite repeated awareness and regular meetings with BWGs, many were still flouting the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and said that those who have not paid the penalty amount of ₹25,000 will be billed the amount along with their water bills from the next cycle.

Joint commissioner of MCG, Naresh Kumar, said BWGs found violating the Solid Waste Management Rules are penalised by the corporation but they often do not deposit the challan amounts. “The penalty will be linked to Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) water bills. This initiative was taken to recover the fines,” he added.

MCG officials said there are around 1,680 residential complexes, including condominiums, across the city. Last year 208 BWGs were penalised. According to the norms, BWGs should first segregate their waste into three categories — dry, wet and domestic hazardous. The dry recyclable material should be given to the authorised waste pickers or recyclers, while the wet waste is to be processed, treated and disposed of through composting or bio-methanation within the premises.

Kumar said they were checking BWGs in each zone and would actively impose penalties on those violating the rules. “A penalty of ₹25,000 was imposed on each BWG for not complying with the norms. In the last 10 days, 10 BWGs were penalised. Bulk waste generators should compost their wet waste and send the dry waste for recycling,” said Kumar.

“BWGs generate 50kg or more waste per day. There are a total of 1,680 residential societies, and other categories of BWGs include commercial units, government departments, private companies, and hospitals,” said Kumar.

MCG officials said they have also decided to confer awards on the BWGs composting their wet waste and recycling their dry waste properly as per the SWM Rules. MCG came up with a public notice in 2018 saying the civic body will consider waste generators that produce 50kg or more waste every day as BWGs.