The BMC commissioner has cleared a proposal to give 15 % rebate on property tax to housing societies for segregating and processing wet waste on premises, disposing dry waste through recyclers and using harvested rainwater and recycled grey water.
The move comes after BMC’s attempt to penalise and prosecute bulk generators that don’t segregate waste yielded only 50% success.
The proposal will soon be tabled before the BMC standing committee for approval. It has three components: 5% rebate for segregating and composting wet waste; 5% for recycling dry waste through recycler; and 5% for using rainwater or recycled grey water (waste water from sinks, showers, washing machines).
At present, the rebate will be only for residential societies, not commercial complexes.
Societies following just one process will get 5% rebate and those meeting all the three criteria will get 15% rebate.
Municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi told that the tax rebate offer is part of BMC’s efforts to decentralise waste management. Civic officials say the move will further help reduce the burden on the dumping grounds.
Pardeshi said, “Societies can compost wet waste on their premises and even get value by selling the product to gardens. Dry waste like plastic bottles and paper can be sold to recycling companies. All this reduces the cost to the civic authority of collecting and transporting waste. Reuse of waste water for toilet flushing reduces consumption of treated clean municipal water and reduces BMC environmental footprint on earth.”
Asked about the implementation, sources said BMC officials will inspect societies for the infrastructure before offering the incentive. An official said that first two criteria-processing wet waste and recycling dry waste-will help reduce BMC’s daily garbage collection from societies to zero. And use of rainwater harvesting and recycled greywater will reduce the water demand of such societies from BMC.
Welcoming the proposal, Indrani Malkani, Malabar Hill resident and chairman of V Citizens Action Network (VCAN), said, “For many years, many were not segregating their waste despite court orders and various rules. Giving incentive will encourage such societies to follow the those who have been doing it for a long time.”
She said segregating waste and processing it on the premises is possible for most societies and they should adopt the changes to take the benefit of property tax rebate. Greywater recycling requires more space and many societies may need some time to opt for advance technology, she added.
In the last few years, BMC has been trying to reduce its garbage collection burden and load on dumping ground by adopting various measure. Through the tax rebate incentive, which was earlier demanded by many activists, BMC is now trying to encourage society to handle their waste.
