AURANGABAD: Four months ago, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) engaged three NGOs for six zones that were critical in terms of waste management. However, the segregation levels and door-to-door collection in zones 1, 2, 3 and 9 continue to remain poor, raising questions on the work of the NGOs.In an affidavit submitted with the Bombay high court in September, municipal commissioner Nipun Vinayak had stated that in order to make the city clean, the corporation has begun to reach out to grassroot localities, promoting behavioural change amongst citizens so that they segregate waste at source and avoid throwing it on roads."For getting the work done professionally, four expert agencies have been allotted different administrative zones," the commissioner stated, adding that within two months, the results were encouraging with localities and wards adopting clean practices."They are initiating decentralised composting at home or locality level so that waste can be managed locally in least cost and in scientific manner," the affidavit stated.The two-month-old letter mentioned that the city had achieved 75% door-to-door segregation.Out of the four NGOs, Feedback Foundation was allotted zones 1, 2 & 4, Knowledge Links Zone 3, 5 & 7 and Action for Better Living & Environment Zone 8 & 9. Centre for Applied Research & People's Engagement (Carpe) which had run the Majhi City Taka Tak campaign in the city earlier is working in Zone 6.Four months later, the city continues to send waste in mixed form to Chikalthana, Kanchanwadi, Padegaon and Harsul. This has added to the concerns of the waste managers amid resistance by villagers over mixed waste dumping.Asked about the current segregation levels, sanitation inspector Vishal Kharat said that zones 4, 5, 6 and 7 have good segregation levels. "We get dry and wet waste separately from these zones from households. However, zones 1, 2, 3 and 9 have segregation levels roughly between 35 and 40%," he said.He added that zones register low segregation because they fall in old city, which consists of slums, narrow lanes and congested areas.According to the head of solid waste management cell, Nandkishore Bhombe, the city's overall segregation levels are at 80% - only 5% more than what it was four months ago.

Stay updated with all the Latest Aurangabad headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.