The market associations are not very happy with the municipalities, which will soon charge user fees from residential and commercial establishments for garbage collection.
Representatives from eight market associations from the North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations have already met the Mayors since the notification on the new Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016, which levy a monthly fee of ₹50 from residential colonies and ₹500 from commercial establishments for garbage collection.
‘Unfair burden’
“This is an unfair burden being introduced by the municipalities, which will only act as an extra tax, especially on small traders like us,” said Surendra Kumar, a member of the Laxmi Nagar Market Association.
Mr. Kumar, who had come to meet the East Delhi Mayor on Wednesday, said this extra charge will backfire on the target of swachhta that the civic agencies aim to achieve.
“Why would we want to get our trash collected by paying ₹500 a month when we can do it ourselves or employ someone to do it for less. This will not guarantee that trash is disposed effectively...,” he said.
Akash Malhotra, the president of the Greater Kailash-II Traders’ Association, said the idea is to have a dialogue with the agencies to at least reduce these charges.
“We can afford it but we also represent several other traders who just make ends meet and this will be a burden on them. These are monthly charges. There are several days now when garbage is not collected from our shops, so basically we are paying for services we are not availing,” he said.
Senior officials of the SDMC, the nodal agency representing the three civic bodies, said the charges have been decided keeping in mind garbage generation from residential and commercial units. “The rates have been kept minimal but if there are any concerns, the traders and residents’ welfare associations can discuss it with us,” the official said.
Acting on the order of Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, the Urban Development Department of the Delhi government notified the solid waste management by-laws framed under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, which were issued by the Centre.
Though the gazette notifications were issued for the SDMC and the Delhi Cantonment Board, the rules apply to all of Delhi.
