The city produces about 4,500 tonnes of solid waste daily, but only 504 tonnes are processed every day, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) officials said on Sunday.
Of the 144 wards in the KMC, waste segregation at source has started in only 27 wards, which is only 18.75 per cent of the city.
A large volume of the city’s liquid waste is discharged into the Hooghly without being treated, increasing the pollution of the river.
On Saturday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked the state government to create an account and deposit Rs 3,500 crore, which will be used for solid and liquid waste management.
The NGT judges wrote in the order: “We hold that apart from ensuring compliance at the earliest, compensation has to be paid by the State for past violations.”
The tribunal mentioned in the order that Bengal generates 13,709 tonnes of solid waste daily, but only 3,047 tonnes are processed. Processing waste involves separating reusable waste from the rest and recycle it.
The order also mentioned that 1,490 million litres of sewage remained untreated every day. Waste segregation at source, which experts say is the basis of efficient solid waste management, is done over a very small section of the city.
“Waste segregation at source began in seven wards during the Left Front’s tenure in the civic body. A few months before Covid struck, we extended it to 20 more wards,” said Debabrata Majumdar, mayoral council member in charge of the solid waste department.
The KMC had earlier submitted before the NGT that it would start waste segregation in all 144 wards in October. When asked on Sunday, Majumdar did not spell out a deadline. But an official said they were trying their best to start waste segregation at source in all wards by October.
“We will soon receive 10-litre bins, which will be handed to households for waste segregation. Residents will collect biodegradable waste in one bin and non-biodegradable waste in another before they hand it to our collectors,” the KMC official said.
The delivery of 40-litre bins, where waste collected from households will be deposited, will also begin soon.
Of the 4,500-tonne solid waste generated daily, the KMC sends around 500 tonnes of biodegradable waste to a composting plant in Dhapa.
Another 2 tonnes are processed in smaller plants elsewhere.
“We will start recycling 500 tonnes of construction waste every day this month or October. Road building materials will be produced from the waste,” a KMC official said.
“A plant that will produce CNG from biodegradable waste will be commissioned this month. It can handle 5 tonnes of waste daily,” said Majumdar.