Environment panel seeks working space for rag-pickers
Source: The Hindu, Date: , 2014
The members of Clean Gurgaon, an environmental group
working towards making Gurgaon a city with efficient waste management
practices, have sent suggestions to the Ministry of Urban Development on its
Draft Municipal Solid Waste Management Manual, 2014.
They have stressed the
need to organise rag-pickers, provide them working space in all localities and
advocate decentralised solid waste management Clean Gurgaon member N.B. Nair,
who retired from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, said efforts should
be made to bring in rag-pickers’ organisations in direct contact with the
sources of wastes like housing complexes, business houses and eliminate
contractors from the scene.
Mr. Nair opined that green waste is a great wealth
for an agriculture-based country like India and all green waste should go for
composting. On bio-medical waste, Mr. Nair said it can be disinfected and
treated as any other waste and there was no need for expensive autoclaves for
it.