Patna civic body fixes garbage collection rates

PATNA: The ward councillors of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Saturday approved the finalised annual door-to-door garbage collection charges for sub-categories of commercial establishments in the city.
The PMC’s 22nd board meeting was chaired by mayor Sita Sahu in the presence of municipal commissioner Himanshu Sharma.
It was decided that petrol pump outlets would pay Rs 1,500 annually for trash collection while the malls with cinema halls will be charged Rs5,000 and those without theatres will pay Rs 3,000.The amount for the supermarket has been fixed at Rs 2,000 and showrooms, workshops and gyms will have to shell out Rs 1,000 each.
The rates were revised based on the size of periphery. Shops spread over 200 sq feet or less will have to pay Rs 75 per year while those having more than 200 sq feet area will be charged Rs 100. Commercial offices will be charged Rs 500 and those spread over 200sq feet or less will pay Rs 300. For godowns, the rate has been fixed at Rs 1,000. It will be Rs 750 if the area is over 500 square feet or less. The hospitals will have to pay Rs 500 and Rs 200 if the number of beds is 20 or below.
Sahu said no ‘kaccha’ houses in slum areas will be charged for garbage collection while pucca houses in slum areas will have to pay Rs 50 instead of Rs 30.
The PMC has approved 12 decimal of land at landfill site in Ramachak Bariya to Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET), an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, for setting up a plastic waste processing unit, for which the Centre will provide Rs 6 crore.
It was also decided to amend the definition of ‘bulk waste generator’ in the Solid Waste Management Bylaws 2020. Those institutions, establishments located in the municipal area and generating an average of 100kg of waste per day will be kept in the category of bulk waste generator.
“Under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, it is mandatory for the institutions, which come under the category of solid waste producer, to make arrangements for processing of wet waste on the premises itself. PMC will take only domestic harmful waste, sanitary waste, e-waste and dry waste from such establishments,” an official said.
Earlier, those producing average 20kg of waste per day were classified as solid waste generators. The board also approved Rs 4,500 as bonus to all sanitation workers while Rs 10 lakh ex gratia amount to the families of those who died of Covid-19.
The board approved nine proposals, including installation of water pumps or tube-wells, nali-gali yojana, internet connectivity at PMC headquarters and all circle offices, among others.