Surat Municipal Corporation Under Fire for Blatant Violation of Solid Waste Management Rules

Surat : The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has come under intense scrutiny for its flagrant violation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, by failing to segregate dry and wet waste at the source.

This disregard for essential environmental guidelines has left Surat grappling with the consequences of improper waste disposal, posing significant risks to public health and the environment.

Solid waste collected from across the city is unceremoniously dumped at the Khajod disposal site, mere meters away from the world’s largest office building, the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB). This glaring violation of regulations mandates the segregation of waste into dry and wet categories at the source, a critical step in responsible waste management.

A variety of waste materials, including sanitary pads, medicines, liquid powder, chemical water, plastic waste, and biomedical waste, are being deposited at the Khajod disposal site without proper segregation. Such a blatant breach of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, not only jeopardizes the environment but also endangers public health.

Paryavaran Trust, a vigilant non-governmental organization (NGO), has stepped forward to hold the municipal authorities accountable for their negligence. The NGO has brought this critical issue to the attention of the municipal commissioner and the solid waste management department, highlighting the severe consequences of the non-segregation of waste by contractors and its subsequent dumping at the Khajod disposal site.

Paryavaran Trust has fervently urged the municipal commissioner to adhere strictly to the Solid Waste Management Rules (SWMR) guidelines regarding waste segregation.

Prakash Contractor, the president of Paryavaran Trust, expressed his deep concern, stating, “Surat is the second cleanest city in the country, and its municipal corporation is blatantly violating the SWMR. The door-to-door contractors and their workers are more interested in segregating plastic and iron waste from households, while they pay no attention to wet and dry waste segregation.”

This is not the first time that Paryavaran Trust has taken action against the SMC’s mismanagement of solid waste. The organization previously brought the SMC before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court, specifically addressing issues related to the Khajod disposal plant and the overall mishandling of solid waste in Surat.