ULBs in Odisha to process rural waste

BHUBANESWAR: The Government of Odisha has decided to form an association between gram panchayats (GPs) and urban local bodies (ULBs), which will leverage urban infrastructure for efficient management of fecal sludge and plastic waste generated in rural areas. Under this initiative, the districts will tag the GPs to nearby ULBs for transportation of waste and its processing. The association has already been implemented on pilot basis in Balasore Municipality. Nearby 90 panchayats were tagged to avail the facilities of Balasore Municipality, and processing and handling of waste was found to be feasible.

Panchayati Raj and Housing and Urban Development departments of the state took a decision to this effect. The departments have jointly issued a set of guidelines to the collectors of all districts, asking them to implement it for protection of environment and to ensure compliance to statutory requirements.

According to state officials, fecal sludge treatment plants are functioning in 45 ULBs and are under construction in the remaining urban areas. Material recovery facilities (MRFs) have been set up in all the ULBs to process plastic waste. Linking urban infrastructure with sanitation activities of rural areas will help in effective management of waste.   

Guidelines released by the departments state that collectors are required to tag the panchayats located within 20 kilometers of a ULB, and categorise them into three groups of areas falling under 10, 15, and 20 kilometers. According to the categories, the district administration will fix tariff slabs and user charges.

Moreover, interested rural households having toilets and septic tanks can send their fecal sludge to the treatment plants of the concerned ULB on payment of the fixed charges. The collectors will be required to issue GP-wise charges for availing the cesspool services. The districts are to keep the provision of digital payment open for rural households. The GPs will be responsible to collect, segregate dry waste, and transport it to MRFs of the tagged ULBs. GPs are also to bear the cost of transportation.