Waste Generation in Patna reduces by over 50 per cent during COVID-19 lockdown

Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials report that waste generation in the city has decreased by around 53 per cent and dropped by 700 metric tonnes per day.

Patna Mayor Sita Sahu told The Times of India, “On an average, the city generates around 1,300 metric tonnes of garbage. However it has now come down to 600 tonnes following the lockdown. The shutdown of food joints has reduced wet garbage, while dry garbage generation has also gone down as offices, factories and industries among other commercial establishments are closed.” She also added that due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the number of sanitation workers has reduced by 20% as some used to travel miles to come for the work.

Officials say there are 3,800 daily wagers, 2,000 outsourced workers and 1,300 permanent group D employees of the municipal body engaged in door-to-door garbage collection, manual and machinery road sweeping, sanitisation drive and cleaning of drains.

Picture Credit: Eugene Kim from San Francisco, USA, Maurya Lok Patna, CC BY 2.0