Waste of waste bins

A youth threw an empty coke can on the footpath, brazenly ignoring a bin just 10 metres away. His two friends followed suit as they stood gossiping by a commercial building at Nabisco Mor in Dhaka. This is not a one off incident, but rather the trend in the capital as people blatantly litter the roads instead of using the waste bins set up on the city’s footpaths. Both the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) launched an initiative in April to place around 15,000 small and medium size bins for a cleaner city. But unfortunately, the bins with the painted legend “Drop wastes here. Keep our dear city clean” seems to be a wasted effort at best. Moreover, many of the roadside dustbins have been stolen, leaving behind empty frames. At least, five to 10 such frames line up the road from Kakoli to Mohakhali flyover. It costs around Tk 8,000 to set up a footpath bin.
But the money seems to be wasted as the bins in some areas remain empty even as waste piles up beneath them. Only the bins placed in front of markets or shops are used. “Setting up waste-bins on footpaths is undoubtedly a noble initiative. But most of the city-dwellers have come from other districts and are not habituated with such bins. They should be made aware of cleanliness,” Poribesh Bachao Andolon (POBA) coordinator Atik Morshed told The Independent. “Such awareness can be built by distributing leaflets in busy areas, through programmes on TV and advertisements,” he said. “It’d take time to make people aware. Their mindset can’t be changed overnight,” he added. Admitting to the problem, DNCC’s chief waste management officer Capt. Bipon Kumar Saha said, “We’ve seen public indifference to the footpath bins. We’ve seen broken and stolen bins. We’re thinking of starting an awareness-building campaign in this regard.” The distance between two dustbins in crowded places is 15 metres, while the distance is 30 metres in less crowded areas. Garbage management workers from the city corporations collect the wastes from the bins daily after 7pm and transfer them to around 50 waste stations in the city.
However, several people have alleged that wastes from the bins were not collected in time, leading to bad odour in the surrounding neighbourhoods. The mayors of both city corporations said every dweller must take the responsibility to keep the city clean, as it was not possible for them, with only a few thousand workers at their disposal, alone to keep the populous city clean.

 

Waste of waste bins

A youth threw an empty coke can on the footpath, brazenly ignoring a bin just 10 metres away. His two friends followed suit as they stood gossiping by a commercial building at Nabisco Mor in Dhaka. This is not a one off incident, but rather the trend in the capital as people blatantly litter the roads instead of using the waste bins set up on the citys footpaths. Both the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) launched an initiative in April to place around 15,000 small and medium size bins for a cleaner city. But unfortunately, the bins with the painted legend Drop wastes here. Keep our dear city clean seems to be a wasted effort at best. Moreover, many of the roadside dustbins have been stolen, leaving behind empty frames. At least, five to 10 such frames line up the road from Kakoli to Mohakhali flyover. It costs around Tk 8,000 to set up a footpath bin. But the money seems to be wasted as the bins in some areas remain empty even as waste piles up beneath them. Only the bins placed in front of markets or shops are used. Setting up waste-bins on footpaths is undoubtedly a noble initiative. But most of the city-dwellers have come from other districts and are not habituated with such bins. They should be made aware of cleanliness, Poribesh Bachao Andolon (POBA) coordinator Atik Morshed told The Independent. Such awareness can be built by distributing leaflets in busy areas, through programmes on TV and advertisements, he said. Itd take time to make people aware. Their mindset cant be changed overnight, he added. Admitting to the problem, DNCCs chief waste management officer Capt. Bipon Kumar Saha said, Weve seen public indifference to the footpath bins. Weve seen broken and stolen bins. Were thinking of starting an awareness-building campaign in this regard. The distance between two dustbins in crowded places is 15 metres, while the distance is 30 metres in less crowded areas. Garbage management workers from the city corporations collect the wastes from the bins daily after 7pm and transfer them to around 50 waste stations in the city. However, several people have alleged that wastes from the bins were not collected in time, leading to bad odour in the surrounding neighbourhoods. The mayors of both city corporations said every dweller must take the responsibility to keep the city clean, as it was not possible for them, with only a few thousand workers at their disposal, alone to keep the populous city clean.