The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has objected to the joint proposal of the civic bodies to levy “user charge” on residential units and temples among others for door-to-door garbage collection, an official said.

The three municipal corporations, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board had approached the Delhi Urban Development Department with a proposal for introducing “user charge” — ranging from Rs. 50 to Rs. 200 per month — for domestic waste generators depending on the category of the locality.

The proposal also includes levying user charge of Rs. 2,000 for collecting garbage from clinics, dispensaries and other places.

In a written comment on the proposal to Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain said there is no logic in levying user charge for solid waste management, and added that house tax is collected mainly for this purpose.

‘Obligatory functions’

He said collection of garbage is covered under the “obligatory functions” according to the provisions under Section 42 of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (66 of 1957).

“Charitable and religious institutions, including temples and dharamsalas need to be exempted from payment of user fee. Residential units in colonies falling in categories C to H prescribed for property tax categorisation should be exempted from the user fee,” Mr. Jain said.

‘Fees too high’

“In case of individual doctors’ clinics, dispensaries, the user fee of Rs. 2,000 is too high and should be limited to Rs. 100,” he added.

The Minister added that in some cases, the proposed user fee would be higher than the property tax being paid by the owner. Currently, garbage collection is outsourced to various contractors who collect waste from ‘ dhalaos ’ or dumps.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has been made the nodal agency for the proposal.

The first day of 2018 brought good news to the residents of north Delhi with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation declaring all 104 wards under its jurisdiction open defecation-free.

“The North Corporation has been declared open defecation-free since December 31, 2017. Our area has adequate number of community and public toilets as per the yardstick of Swachh Bharat Mission,” said North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal.

Ms. Agarwal added that there are 314 Community Toilet Complexes (CTCs), with 3,508 seats for men and 3, 232 seats for women.

Apart from these, there are a total of 2,063 seats for men and 3,256 seats for women available in public toilets, including the ones at petrol pumps, restaurants, metro stations and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) markets falling in the areas under the civic body’s jurisdiction.

“Our job does not end here, we have also issued instructions to public and private agencies in our area to allow the general public to use their washrooms. We also have ample number of urinals in crowded areas and are constructing new ones from time to time,” Ms. Agarwal said.

‘Maintaining cleanliness’

The Mayor added that though the toilets have been constructed, keeping them clean and maintaining them is a process that needs to be carried out by both the civic body and the people. “All the toilets have been uploaded on Google Maps, using which people can locate their closest toilets,” she said.

North Corporation commissioner Madhup Vyas said that all the officials of the corporation have an important role to play in achieving this target. “We have not only constructed new toilets but also undertaken mass public movement for stoppage of open defecation and beautifying public places,” Vyas said.

He also stressed upon the need of waste segregation at source. “We have been moving forward with our campaign of Roko Toko Seeti Bajao , to encourage public participation,” he said.