PMC Pune Solid waste management | It is a good thing that representatives of Southern Hemisphere countries appreciate solid waste management systems | pune Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar
PMC Pune Solid waste management |The appreciation of Pune’s solid waste management system by representatives from various countries in the Southern Hemisphere is a good thing for the city and will encourage employees and citizens to keep the city cleaner. This was said by Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar (PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar)
Centre for Science and Environment is a 40-year-old non-profit international think tank based in New Delhi, India that works in the field of environmental governance through research, capacity building and advocacy. CSE has significant global operations working in 26 countries across the Asia Pacific and Pan African regions.
The Center for Science and Environment, an organization that has been conducting research and capacity building related to environmental governance for the past several years, organized a study tour for officials from African and Asian countries under the platform of ‘Global Forum of Cities for Circular Economy’. The officials from 19 countries visited door to door waste collection, composting and biogas projects, waste recycling projects in Pune to study solid waste management in Pune city.
In this international training tour organized by CSE, very senior representatives from Cameroon, Cote d’lvoire, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka were present.
Local and central senior officials from various departments like social security, health, environment, environmental technology, solid waste management, hazardous waste management, forest department, environment and tourism participated in this study tour. The visit was organized under Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 to see the best models of waste management in India and from there to jointly build systems on waste management across the Southern Hemisphere.
On 3rd May 2023, all representatives inspected the fresh waste processing plant, legacy waste scientific capping sites, ongoing biomining of legacy waste, tree plantation and environmental improvement works at Devachi Uruli and Fursungi. Also, the actual work of the waste pickers of the Swachh organization/cooperative, which collects the segregated waste from door-to-door, was observed. The day-to-day operations of waste pickers, transportation of collected segregated waste to processing plants as well as actual processing plants and biomining process of legacy waste, generation of organic fertilizers from these projects were shown in the field.
This visit was planned in detail under the guidance of Shri. Vikram Kumar, Honourable Municipal Commissioner, Dr Kunal Khemnar, Hon. Additional Municipal Commissioner (E) and Smt. Asha Raut, Hon. Deputy Commissioner, Solid Waste Management. After welcoming all the dignitaries who came to visit Pune city, Mrs. Suman More, president of Swachh organization, suggested on this occasion that they should also work with the unorganized waste pickers of our country and set up a similar competent system and while making laws, rules and plans for solid waste management, they should keep the waste pickers who have been working hard for many generations at the centre and take them forward.
On 4th May 2023, a detailed presentation on solid waste management was organized for all the dignitaries at Pune Municipal Corporation main building. On this occasion Hon’ble Mr. Chandrakantdada Patil, Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Textile Industry, Parliamentary Affairs, Maharashtra State and Guardian Minister, Pune District along with Shri. Vikram Kumar, Hon’ble Municipal Commissioner, Dr. Kunal Khemnar, Hon’ble Additional Municipal Commissioner (E), Mr. Rajendra Muthe, Special Task Officer, Head of Center for Science and Environment Shri. Atin Biswas and other officials of Pune Municipal Corporation were present.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, which was started in 2014 with the concept of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken the form of a people’s movement and the campaign has been successful because of the participation of all the citizens of the country, said the State Minister for Higher and Technical Education and District Guardian Minister Chandrakantdada Patil. Various good activities were implemented in the country under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Pune city has also made special efforts to make the campaign successful. The ‘Swachh model’ here has been successful. It is a matter of pride that representatives of the world are taking note of this work. He expressed his belief that the representatives who have come to visit the city are important officials of their respective countries, and this visit will be useful for solid waste management in their country.
Shri. Vikram Kumar, Hon’ble Municipal Commissioner said that special attention is being given to cleanliness in rural and urban areas through Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. He expressed that the appreciation of Pune’s solid waste management system by representatives of various countries in the southern hemisphere is a good thing for the city and it will encourage the employees and citizens to keep the city cleaner.
Mr. Atin Biswas, Head of Centre for Science and Environment said that Swachh Bharat Mission has been successful due to good leadership and equally good efforts at the administrative level. He said that the ‘Swachh model’ of Pune is unique in the world. He expressed confidence that the five-day tour would be useful for all the delegates.
Dr. Kunal Khemnar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (E) gave information about the visit of representatives from various countries in the introduction. 38 delegates from 19 countries have come to study solid waste management in the city, including 15 African countries and other Asian countries. He said that the visit was organized by the Center for Science and Environment.
After this, Smt. Lakshmi Narayan, the founder of Swachh Pune Seva Cooperative and Paper, Glass, Paper Workers Panchayat Samiti gave information about the working method of waste pickers, establishment and functioning of Swachh and KKPKP organization. All the dignitaries were honoured with badges and gifts by the auspicious hands of the Guardian Minister and Hon’ble Municipal Commissioner
