Hyderabad: Stop litter from getting into rivers, CS tells PCB officials

Hyderabad: Telangana chief secretary S.K. Joshi on Saturday directed the Telangana State Pollution Control Board officials to prepare a plan to reduce the contamination of rivers by solid waste like litter and garbage across the state.

Solid waste often ends up in the rivers as rain water from the catchment areas also carry trash, litter, and garbage strewn on the roads to the water bodies.

During a review meeting conducted on Saturday, the chief secretary asked pollution control board officials to gather information on the steps taken by civic bodies with regard to the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and submit a report by April 23. “The information on the compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules will be reported to the National Green Tribunal on April 29 in New Delhi,” Mr Joshi said.

Out of 8,450 metric tonnes of garbage produced in the state, Mr Joshi said the civic bodies in the state have been disposing 8,273 metric tonnes on daily basis through door-to-door pick up.

The chief secretary has also asked the officials to prepare a plan of action in conformity with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and prepare a detail project report after identifying suitable location for dump yards.

According to India Water Portal, “The total municipal solid waste generated in urban India has been estimated at 68.8 million tonnes per year, which works out to be 5.73 lakh metric tonnes per day in 2008.”

The portal claims that only 40 per cent of such waste is not collected, which lies littered in the roads. The litter strewn on the roads gets into the nearby drains to subsequently join water bodies like river, lake and pond.