Harvest time for PCMC ragpickers

The entire project was aimed to create awareness regarding segregation of garbage to help ragpickers earn a better living, but so far the objective has not been achieved, says project worker Sangeeta John. President of the Panchayat Mohan Nanavare points out that some areas such as Kalewadi and Sant Tukaramnagar still search for plastic items in the open drainages. The response from new housing colonies for appointing ragpickers for the particular job of collecting segregated garbage everyday has been poor, he adds.

The only area where ragpickers find a better living is the relatively posh Pradhikaran area where maximum number of households are covered by them. The ragpickers have been given identity cards and they visit fixed houses to collect garbage everyday for which they are paid a fee of Rs ten per month. John however says that in Pradhikaran too the number of houses where garbage is segregated is less than fifty. For the ragpickers it is easier to get the recyclable items and dispose the wet garbage in the garbage bins.

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation PCMC which has assisted the Panchayat in its work had earlier given ten small hand carts for collecting bins, but they were subsequently taken away. Now only one cart has been given, says a ragpicker Shakubai Naikavade. Some frivolous complaints about the working of the ragpickers prompted the authorities to take away the carts, John said. Apart from Pradhikaran area, part of the Hindustan Antibiotics Colony is also covered. Other ragpickers go up to Karjat everyday.

The Panchayat opened its own scrap shop in February last year as other scrap dealers mostly mislead the ragpickers in giving proper remuneration for their recyclable items, Nanavare said. Parvati Sonvane, a ragpicker said, that ragpickers benefit from the own scrap shop as they earn about Rs ten to Rs 15 more daily than amount given by other scrap dealers. Nanavare lists the benefits of the Panchayat8217;s shop that all items are weighed properly, receipts are given, and there is no fluctuation in the rates of the items unlike other dealers who change rates at their own will.

The Panchayat has also opened its own credit society which issues loans up to Rs 5000. The ragpickers contribute Rs 50 per month for the society. The PCMC medical department provides yearly free medical check-up facility, and also gives medical treatment at concessional rates, John said.

Ward sans garbage bin
The PCMC has announced that ward number one in Pradhikaran will be a ward without any garbage bins from August 15. Instead the PCMC will be providing small bins to around 350 houses. The sanitary workers will visit the houses during a fixed time of the day and collect garbage, according to additional commissioner R B Konde. The wet garbage will be used in gardens for preparation of organic manure by vermiculture method. The other items will be disposed off at the garbage depot.

The ragpickers however fear that they may lose their daily earnings if the scheme is launched in the ward. Konde allayed the fears saying that the ragpickers could be employed in a suitable way so that they do not face any financial loss.