NGT directs municipalities in West Bengal to devise detailed plans for segregated waste processing

The West Bengal Municipal Affairs department has directed all municipalities in the state to devise means of waste processing facility (WPF) through which wet and dry waste can be processed separately.

The WPF system will be run by professional agencies through their own manpower and in most cases, the facilities would be set up by the agencies themselves. The authorities are confident that the municipalities will have adequate infrastructure. For instance, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has already called a tender for roping in an agency that will do separate processing of dry and wet waste. The Howrah Municipal Corporation has come up with a decentralised organised waste converter by signing an agreement with five housing complexes while the Joynagar — Majilpur municipality in South 24-Parganas has already started a biogas plant.

Millenium Post reports that this follows the National Green Tribunal (NGT) verdict giving one year to the state government for developing a system of proper disposal and management of solid waste.

Picture Credit: GST HBK, Shredded solid waste, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons