Mymensingh people deserve a smart, environment-friendly waste management system

It is disconcerting to note that Mymensingh City Corporation authorities have been dumping tonnes of garbage at a 6.5-acre open dumping station in the city’s Char Kalibari area, ignoring protests from residents and their demands for proper waste management.

The dumping station is adjacent to a road that connects Mymensingh to Sherpur, Netrakona, and Kishoreganj districts on one side and croplands on the other, with no wall separating them.

As a result, waste seeps into agricultural lands, especially during rains, leading to unbearable stench that attracts flies and other pests into the farmland.

Since Mymensingh was upgraded to a city corporation in 2018, the number of wards increased to 33 from 21, along with an increase in the number of residents.

However, MCC’s operations, including waste management, have continued in the old pattern.

The MCC authority is struggling to render services to the people of the city with its limited capacity.

According to a report yesterday, the corporation currently owns only 24 trucks and 19 trolleys to carry around 500 tonnes of domestic and medical waste.

Only two trucks have been added to the fleet since 2018. Also, 600 cleaning staff are employed at present against the demand of double the figure.

The MCC has no waste treatment facility or incineration system and hence they dump the medical wastes in a shed, from which they are taken away every evening by MCC’s trucks.

Recently the city authorities signed an agreement with Prism Bangladesh Foundation for the proper management of medical waste.

The government also approved Impact Energy, an England-based company, to work with the city corporation to produce energy from waste.

Like many small new corporations, Mymensingh is struggling to self-sustain and manage the city properly. Do not the relevant authorities allocate adequate funds for the management of wastes produced by the city dwellers? In these days of high-tech systems, waste management should have been safe and environment-friendly in Mymenshing.

Waste management is a top priority for any modern city. We urge the Mymenshing city authorities to involve NGO with its operation so they can support proper waste management and increase their capacity to smoothly run all the designated functionalities.