New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) If a colony has been awarded a ‘Zero Waste’ status by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi under its ‘Sahbhagita’ certification scheme, then a member of the area’s RWA can claim an “incentive of five per cent” of the property tax paid which can be utilised for development work, a senior civic official said on Friday.
The development work will be carried out by the MCD once the application for the incentive is cleared by the civic body, he said.
“MCD will give an incentive of five per cent of the property tax paid to members of the ‘zero waste’ colonies, falling under the ‘Sahbhagita Colony’ certification.
“This incentive can be utilised by taking up developmental work on the recommendations of RWAs/group housing societies in their colony or society,” the MCD said in a statement.
The senior official clarified that this is “not a rebate” and only a scheme whereby a part of property tax can ploughed back for development work which will be carried out by the MCD for these RWAs or group housing societies.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor of V K Saxena on Friday felicitated representatives of RWAs and group housing societies for doing “outstanding work in 100 per waste segregation at source and making their colonies achieve the target of ‘Zero Waste’”.
MCD has a unique “incentive-based programme” to make the city green and garbage-free, officials said.
It has received “full support from RWAs in this initiative, and 28 out of 56 RWAs and MTAs have been declared ‘Zero Waste’, the statement said.
The LG, right after taking charge of the office, had directed MCD to make the city greener and garbage-free by engaging citizens and RWAs.
“Such engagements incentivised by the MCD in terms of recognition and financial benefits, can make the colonies self-sustainable in terms of waste management, he has been underlining,” it said.
The MCD has started a new initiative of awarding certificates to ‘zero waste’ colonies. For this purpose, it has developed a web portal for registration of RWAs and group housing societies for the certificate programme.
“This will also lead to healthy competition amongst RWAs and GHSs to attain the same,” it added.
The corporation will award certificates in two categories namely, ‘Harit Mitra’ to the RWAs and group housing societies which will adopt parks and gardens and maintain them and also ensure in situ wet waste composting, the MCD said.
The second categorisation is that of ‘Sahbhagita Colony’ certification, conditions for which are ‘Harit Mitra’ certification and 100 per cent waste segregation at source, 100 per cent composting of wet waste in the colony, 100 per cent recycling of the recyclable dry waste and 100 per cent of the remaining dry waste to be handed over to the MCD or its authorised agencies, it added.
The MCD has declared several colonies as ‘zero waste’ colonies, including Navjeevan Vihar, B-5 and B-6 Vasant Kunj, Westend Colony in South Zone; Defence colony,Sunder Nagar in Central Zone; Beverly Apartment, Brahma Apartment in Najafgarh zone; Devdoot Apartment,Gulmohar Apartment in West zone; DLF Karampura, B Block Rajouri Garden in Karol Bagh Zone, among other places.
“Legacy waste can be reduced with the help of public participation and we will be able to erase this mark of shame from our city. It is very heartening to see that women are working at the forefront for the success of this initiative,” the statement quoting Saxena said.
MCD’s Special officer Ashwani Kumar said every colony should process and recycle waste generated by it and waste generated should be addressed at the colony level.
He said the relationship between RWAs and MCD should be beyond waste processing. MCD will try to address any problems related to house tax, roads and issues related to trade licenses, he said.
Municipal Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti said that this “unique initiative” started by MCD will address the problem of processing waste and will help in reducing legacy waste at landfill sites. With the help of RWAs, MCD will be able to make city garbage free, he said. PTI KND TDS TDS
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Source: The Print
