Reality behind cleaning Darjeeling Town

 

Reality behind Cleaning of Darjeeling Town

The wastes arising from human and animal activities are commonly known as solid waste. Which is mainly generated from the activities of domestic houses, commercial places including slaughter houses, institutional places, agricultural, industrial activities and from public services. Solid waste is non-liquid waste materials arising from aforesaid activities. This should be properly managed by the public and Municipality. Municipality being the sole authority or the agency to control the solid & liquid waste, it becomes the obligatory duty of Municipal authorities to dispose the solid & liquid waste in proper way in proper place, without causing any kind of health hazard to the public. Laws of the nation have given Municipal Authorities the power to levy the taxes and fees to dispose of the solid & liquid waste, in the name of conservancy tax.

Darjeeling Municipality realises this taxes and fees as per the Bengal Municipal Act of 1993, from trade license, holding tax, land rent of Municipal property, car parking, tourist, and from the vendors. So each and every people directly or indirectly pay taxes for the disposal of the solid waste generated from their activities. Every year Darjeeling Municipality spends almost its total revenue collection for the disposal of solid waste.

If we go through the Budget for the year of 2006/07 of Darjeeling Municipality, it reflects that how hard it is for the Darjeeling Municipality to manage the cleanliness of Municipal areas with its own source of revenue. The collection from its own source and expenditure of conservancy Department are as follows.

Out of the above collection, Municipality has spent following amounts for the cleanliness of the Municipal area, (excluding the purchase of Tractors, Trucks and other equipments, if we include these expenses then one can easily imagine the disposal cost of one kilogram waste)

Expenditure on Conservancy Dept.:
Year P. P. cess poll & Road cleaning: drainage & sewerages:
2004/2005 R s. 1,58,12,701.98 Rs. 1,11,505.00
2005/06 Rs. 2,37,62,749.10 Rs. 3,65,359.00
2006/07 Rs. 2,46,43,097.00 Rs. 3,78,688.00

Total expenditure of Conservancy Dept:
Year
2004/2005 Rs. 1,59,24,206.98
2005/06 Rs. 2,41,28,108.10
2006/07 Rs. 2,50,21,785.00

There are 32 wards (constituencies) in Darjeeling Municipality area and according to the Municipality registered records: there are 7830 holdings Numbers (House Number) as on December 2006, licensed shops 4,094, licensed restaurants 267, Licensed Hotels 192 as on 31.03.2006.

It is very surprising to know that the Pony owners of Chowrasta does not pay any kind of license fee to Darjeeling Municipality, though the maximum numbers of ‘Safai’ workers are engaged to clean the excretes of the ponies and the pony stand in the touristic place at Chowrasta.

The total generations of solid waste in Municipal area are 20 to 25 M/T per day in Off-season and during season time it goes up to 30 Metric tones.

To clean the 78 Numbers of dust bins including smaller one. Municipality uses 3 Nos of tractors with the capacity of 1 MT per tractor and 2 trucks with the capacity of 2 MT (approx.) per trucks (depends on wet and dry garbage.)

As per the official records each tractor makes three trips and each truck makes two trips per day. Maximum numbers of dust bins are cleaned in an alternative days or thrice a week.

If we believe the trips of the tractors and trucks it clearly reflects that:
Three tractors carries 9 M.T of garbage and two trucks carries 8 M.T of garbage every day to final dumping ground, which is 1.5 kilometer far from the town.

A total area covered by Darjeeling Municipality is approximately 7.5 sq. km.

Due to rapid growth of population, current dumping ground is being surrounded by growing village, if this kind of encroachment is not checked in time by the Municipal authorities, there will be no place left for dumping the waste in future, because majority of village people would compel the Municipal authorities for removal or shifting of the dumping ground in the near future. This has already happened to near by old Septic-Tank used for the storage of sewage of the Darjeeling Town. Presently the Septic Tank has become the play ground for the village people which have settled around the Empty Tank.

However there are still more than 4000 sq. meter of land under the possession of Darjeeling Municipality above and below the Burial ground, which are illegally occupied by few people without the permission of Municipal authorities.

Besides Municipality, there is one NGO called Himalayan Environmental Awareness Programme (HEAP) formed by educated youths. The HEAP has been engaged to collect the garbage from house to house collection in very nominal charges started from thirty rupees per month from every house hold. HEAP started its function in trial basis with the help of the chairman of previous board of commissioners from 15th August 2003. In the same year, Municipality had started collection of garbage from the certain point of villages by ringing the bell and blowing the whistle, collecting garbage in tractors and trucks from different places, which are going on successfully.

The chairman of the previous board of commissioners even dismantled a dozen numbers of community dust bins which had become a nuisance in the locality producing obnixous gas and suitable place for house fly for propagation.

While dismantling the community bins and introducing the new system i.e. collection of wastes by ringing and whistling. Many citizens welcomed the idea of the then chairman Mr. Passang Bhutia, and came forward to co-operate the Darjeeling Municipality without any hesitations.

Because of their cooperation, now there are beautiful small gardens in the place of stinking dust bin, beautifying the town in the main road sides, specially in the V.I.P roads as under:
1. Gandhi Road opposite to Bethany School.
2. Ladenla Road near Hotel Elgin.
3. Ladenla Road near Hotel Allice villa and Silver fur.
4. Junction of Toong soong Ziz Zag Road & Dr. Zakir Hussain Road near T.V. Tower.
5. Dr. Zakir Hussain Road below St. Paul’s School.
6. Mall road opposite to Governor’s house.
7. At Chowrasta near pony stand but later reconstructed by new board of commissioners.

Responsibilities to clean the Municipal area following the strength of staffs are regularly rendering their services:-
Permanent staffs in conservancy department = 225 persons.

Daily wage basis = 141 (some casual workers are engaged since long time)

Total staffs engaged 366. During the season time additional 25 to 30 extra hands are engaged to work for 45 to 60 days. Though there are so many manpower engaged, most of the bins still remains unclean and almost all the ‘Jhoras’ of the locality have been converted into new dumping ground, the trend is going on in an uncontrolled manner.

Therefore, one has to think, who is responsible for making the slope areas and ‘Jhoras’ a new dumping ground?

Until and Unless, Darjeeling finds an able person with good administrative knowledge and vision to make Darjeeling full of water, clean and stink free, the future of Darjeeling seems very dark.

Each & every people of Darjeeling should know the following obligatory functions of the Municipality under the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993. (Part II-The Municipal Areas-Chapter VI-Powers and Functions-Section 63.)

Chapter VI--------Powers and Functions.
Section 63: It shall be the obligatory duty of every Municipality to make reasonable and adequate provision for the following matters within the territorial limits of the municipal area and the financial means at its disposal:
(1) in the sphere of public works-
(a) providing by itself or by an agency, means for supply of water for public and private purposes;
(b) construction, maintenance and cleansing of sewers and drains, sewerage and drainage works;
(c) construction, maintenance and cleansing of public latrines, urinals and similar conveniences;
(d) construction, maintenance, alteration and improvement of public streets and street furniture, bridges and culverts, fly-overs, sub-ways, cause-ways and the like;
(e) naming of streets and numbering of premises;
(f) lighting of public streets and other public places;
(g) planting and care of trees on road-side and elsewhere;
(h) construction and maintenance of municipal markets and slaughter houses and the regulation of all markets and slaughter houses;
(i) maintenance of all monuments vested in the Municipality;


(2) in the sphere of public health and sanitation,-
(a) collection, removal and disposal of solid wastes including filth, rubbish and other obnoxious or polluted matters;
(b) disposal of solid and liquid wastes consistent with efforts to cause recovery and re-use of all that can be salvaged;
(c) reclamation of unhealthy localities, removal of noxious vegetation and abatement of all nuisances;
(d) regulating and abating offensive and dangerous trades or practices;
(e) cleansing of public streets and other public places;
(f) ensuring the wholesomeness of water supplied for drinking and domestic purposes;
(g) maintenance of all public tanks and regulating the re-excavation, repair and up-keep of
all private tanks, wells and other sources of water supply on such terms and conditions as the Municipality may deem proper;
(h) provide for places for the disposal of the dead and the regulation and maintenance of such places;
(i) measures for preventing and checking the spread of dangerous diseases;
(j) immunisation including public vaccination and inoculation;
(k) removal and disposal of the unclaimed dead bodies and carcasses of all dead animals;
(l) abatement of nuisances from birds and animals including dog menace;
(m) Conversion of all service privies into sanitary latrines and providing adequate facilities for sanitation so that open defecation may be completely done away with.