SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Aug 10: The hotels, restaurants, lodges, apartments, clubs, institutes and banquet halls have opposed the RMC decision of not lifting the wet garbage beyond 50 kg produced by each of them every day from September 1. These institutions have been asked to manage the wet garbage at their own level.
The Municipal Corporation will only lift the dry waste from the concerned institutions.
The owners of these institutions have opposed the idea and said that either they don’t produce this amount of wet waste or they don’t have the space to do so.
Owner of Kumar Girls Hostel Bhartendu Kumar said, “This is not something agreeable. They are putting another monetary burden on people. People like us may be able to afford it, however, many others will not. Some may not have space, while some may not have the resources.”
“We are already giving three-four kinds of taxes including commercial holding tax, commercial tax, income tax and even tax for garbage pickup. If they are already collecting tax for the same, why make us do all the work,” Kumar added.
Good Spoon restaurant owner Shubham Gupta has said that this is a waste of resources for the institution owners. “We do not produce 50 kg of garbage per day. Moreover, the RMC has been doing whatever they feel like. What they don’t realise is that every hotel, restaurant or even hostel does not have the space to set up such plants in their premises. I understand the idea of doing something better for the city, but this is not the way to do it.”
Manish, the owner of Haveli Restaurants has said, “This is a dictatorial decree of Ranchi Municipal Corporation. If hotel operators do the work of paying income tax, holding tax, electricity bill, then they should also get facilities. Ranchi Municipal Corporation itself should manage our waste. As most of the waste is peels of fruits and vegetables, they can be used by the corporation for various purposes.”
Meanwhile, RMC Deputy Municipal Commissioner Rajnish Kumar has said, “The RMC already has a list of all those institutions that create more than 50 kg wet waste per day. These institutions need to set up biogas or compost plants to discard their waste on their own.”
When questioned if every hotel or restaurant will have enough space for one in their premises, he said, “It is not necessary to set one up in their premises, they can set it up anywhere and transport their waste to the said plant. However, they will need to provide related data and other documents to the RMC.”
As per the RMC, bottles, cardboard, paper, plastic, metal and other dry waste will be picked up by the corporation. Meanwhile, under the Solid Waste Management Act, institutions handling 50 kg of wet waste have to dispose and compost their own waste.
