Aurangabad: It was expected that once the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) loops in a private agency for the collection and transportation of waste, the indiscriminate dumping would come to an end. However, mixed waste is continuously being dumped at Chikalthana, Harsul Sawangi and Kanchanwadi. Meanwhile, the failure of the civic body in increasing segregation levels over the last 7-8 months has been exposed.After the High Court issued directives to initiate the waste collection and transportation services by the private agency, the agency was pressed into service in Zones 2, 7 and 9 from February 4. However, the poor coordination, the lack of processing and the lack of homework by the municipal corporation has plagued the service.Currently, Bengaluru-based agency P Gopinath Reddy has engaged 96 small vehicles, 8 tippers and 7 compactors in these three zones. As the agency is supposed to be paid as per the waste, the collected waste is weighed daily at weigh bridges near dumping sites. An average of 150 to 180 tonne of waste per day is being recorded, said agency chief manager Harshwardhan Reddy.However, the corporators as well as local residents of many of the wards in these zones are not happy with the service that is being provided. As per the contract signed between the agency and the AMC, each ward will be given 2 auto-tippers for waste collection. Earlier, under the AMC, there were 4 auto-tippers per ward. Many areas within the three zones do not get a garbage vehicle for two to three days at a stretch.According to Reddy, their auto-tippers have twice the capacity of collection as the older ones and as per the contract, they can engage only two auto-tippers per ward. “Our compactors which go to dump waste at some of the dump sites are being stopped. This only delays the collection,” he said.On the other hand, the residents near the dumpsites are alleging that there is no change in the situation after the introduction of the new service. “Mixed waste is being brought in to Harsul Sawangi the same as before. Machines which have been installed 15 days ago are not able to process the waste as they get jammed due to the mixed waste feed,” said Ayyub Patel, a Harsul resident.The new vehicles, with separate compartments for dry, wet and hazardous waste, are not able to collect segregated waste due to a lack of cooperation from residents.Segregation levels in Zones 7 and 9 is 40 to 70% and in Zone 2 it is as low as 10 to 15%. The AMC has spent more than Rs1.5 crore just to ensure that the citizens are educated about the importance of waste segregation.However, the poor segregation levels go to show that the entire awareness exercise has not helped.Now, the agency says that it will wait for another three to four months to educate residents.

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