The three mayors in Delhi spelt out a vision for the capital on Thursday, promising to make the city garbage-free in few months, planting more trees and running an intensive week-long campaign next month to keep vector-borne diseases under control.
At a press conference held at the Civic Centre, North Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, South Delhi Mayor Mukesh Suryan and East Delhi Mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal concurred that making Delhi ''dhalo-free'' in the next six months was the shared goal of three civic bodies, ahead of the municipal elections due in 2022.
Dhalaos or garbage dump yards are traditionally designated places from where sanitation workers collect garbage deposited by people.
However, efforts have been made by three civic bodies to reduce the number of such yards, and instead carry out door-to-door garbage collection and other means to make the city look cleaner.
"We have already installed 70 compactors, and closed 300 dhalaos. And, our vision is to soon make north Delhi, dhalao-free," a statement quoting North Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said.
East Delhi Mayor Aggarwal said a number of initiatives are lined up till October first week under the BJP's ''Sewa Hi Samarpan'' programme from September 17-October 7 to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday which fell on September 17.
Other two mayors said all three corporations shared the vision for a better Delhi.
Suryan said the municipal corporations have aimed to make Delhi garbage free in the next six months and the Fixed Compactor Transfer Station (FCTS) system is being installed at all dhalaos.
The NDMC as part of this vision will also carry out intensive sanitation drive to make the city cleaner and lend it a more aesthetic look, a senior official said.
"A campaign will be started on a large scale by the north corporation, with rallies, events, fogging drives being part of it, from October 2-7, to keep vector-borne diseases like malaria, chikungunya and dengue under control," the North Delhi mayor said.
Over 50 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the national capital in the last one week, taking the total count this year to more than 210, according to a civic report released on Monday.
In this month alone, 87 cases have been recorded till September 18, which is about 41 per cent of the cumulative cases.
South Delhi mayor Suryan said a special drive will be carried out between September 25 and October 2 to ensure complete ban on use of single-use plastic.
Besides, plan is also to establish eight model schools under the SDMC, and a massive drive will be conducted to check vector-borne diseases, he was quoted as saying in the statement.
To address issues related to the people, a special programme ''RWA Ki Baat Parshad Ke Sath'' has been started where RWAs can put their issue before the councillor, he added.
North Delhi Mayor Singh also said the NDMC will also launch on October 2, an awareness campaign with the officials of RWA and market associations to discourage use of single-use plastic in daily life. Also, the AYUSH department of the civic body would conduct yoga classes for citizens and classes on hypertension, he added.
East Delhi Mayor Agarwal said our plan is to close all dhalaos in the next six months, adding out of about 300 dhalaos, 50 have been closed.
He said the EDMC has a plan to set up 37 compactor plants, out of which 16 plants have been installed, and four are functioning.
Aggrawal also said a target has been set to eliminate the legacy waste from the Ghazipur landfill site by 2024, and in this direction the EDMC has so far reduced the height of the garbage mountain by 15 m.
As in July 2020, the height of the mound was 40 feet. The landfill was started in 1984.
Aggarwal also said the EDMC will run ''Say No to Single-us Plastic'' campaign from September 25 to October 2, in all the wards under the leadership of its councillors. Under this campaign, waste plastic will be collected and local residents will be made aware about the ill effects of plastic, he added.
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