Hyderabad: ULBs to levy user charges for waste collection

Hyderabad: The urban local bodies in the State would now collect user charges by categorising the waste from the domestic and commercial units through a private agency.

The Municipal Administration and Urban Development department has revised the waste collection charges in towns based on the commercial establishment. The department has proposed to increase the charges from Rs 500 to Rs 10,000 every month depending on the category. The department has asked the municipalities to prepare proposals to hand over the waste collection responsibility to private agencies and in turn allow them to collect the user charges for waste.

The new Municipal Act, 2019 and Solid Waste Management Act, 2016 allows the municipalities to impose user charges and also handover the waste lifting work to the private agencies.

The department has released a policy and guidelines recently and as per this the waste would be categorized into wet, dry and hazardous wastes. According to sources, the officials have prepared the tender guidelines and rules for the waste management.

As per the guidelines, the municipality would be divided into zones based on shops and the responsibility of lifting the waste would be given to the private agency. The officials have framed rules that no agency would be provided more than two zones for collecting waste. The municipality would be giving their vehicles to the agency with vehicle fitness and pollution certificates. The agency should also provide the same fitness and pollution certificates after their contract ends.

The shops would be divided based on the population in the town. For a population of 25,000 ten shops would be allowed, for a population of 20,000 to 50,000 there would be 20 shops, for a population of 1 lakh to 3 lakh there will be 75 shops and for a population of more than three lakhs the municipality can have 100 shops.

There will be five categories of wastes. Commercial establishment-hotels, restaurants/hostels/tiffin centers are included in the first category. In the second category, there will be function halls/shadikhanas. In the third category, chicken centres, non-veg markets, slaughterhouses are included. In the fourth category, vegetable markets/weekly markets/bazars and in the fifth category commercial complexes are included.

As per the proposal, the individual houses would have to give Rs 20 per month. The apartments Rs 30, dhabas, sweet shops, coffee shops, fast food centers Rs 500, hostels and hotels Rs 750, private educational institutions Rs 1,000, multiplexes, marriage halls, function halls, banquet halls (for 20,000 sq yards place) Rs 3000 and Rs 5000 for more than 20,000 sq yards.

For healthcare institutions with 40 beds Rs 3,000, for 100 beds Rs 5,000 and for more than 200 beds Rs 10,000 per month.