Waste Management

Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) has decided to follow the Solid Waste Management (SWM) model currently being implemented in Panaji as part of the Swachh Bharat initiative. A meeting was held in this regard on Monday which was attended by SCB CEO Sujatha Gupta, president Brig. AS Negi, Malkajgiri MP Malla Reddy, Cantonment MLA G Sayanna, and the newly elected board members.

Under the initiative, dustbins would be colour coded for wet, dry and recycle waste. The recycled waste would be sold for generating revenue to the board. SCB’s sanitation staff would collect the waste from the colonies. To effectively implement the scheme, an awareness camp would be held soon in all localities to educate the public on the benefits of SWM.

The board will also come up with a year-wise action plan to implement the Swachh Bharat campaign up to October 2, 2019. Apart from this, the annual contract for laying Cement Concrete (CC) roads in the Cantonment area has been granted to M/s M&R. The contract is estimated to be around Rs 3 crore and has been cleared and vetted by Garrison Engineers (South).

The SCB has set a target to collect Rs 26 crore worth property tax by March 31. So far, it has recovered Rs 18.5 crore in taxes. “If the residents pay property tax promptly, we would be able to accrue Rs 100 crore each year. This would be useful to improve the financial position of the SCB and we would be in a position to pay the dues of Rs 33 crore to the Water Board,” said Sujatha Gupta.

Both Malla Reddy and Sayanna appealed to the SCB CEO to concentrate on solving the drinking water woes. The board has now decided to draw a summer action plan for meeting the drinking water requirements of the Cantonment area. The Board was also asked to resolve the thorny encroachments issue.