Hyderabad: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has uncovered major deficiencies in solid waste management (SWM) in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and 15 urban local bodies (ULBs), highlighting gaps in collection, segregation, processing and monitoring systems.In a major financial lapse, GHMC paid Rs 313.20 crore to a concessionaire for treatment and disposal of 44.16 lakh metric tonnes of dry waste between Feb 2012 and July 2020, despite the waste not being processed.Additionally, the concessionaire failed to set up a mandatory environmental protection fund as required under the environmental clearance issued by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).It noted the absence of a system to verify the actual volume of waste generated or collected within GHMC limits before being transported to the Jawaharnagar treatment & disposal (T&D) facility, mainly because weighbridges were not installed at Secondary Collection and Transfer Points (SCTPs).The findings are part of a performance audit of solid waste management (SWM) in urban local bodies conducted for the period 2017-18 to 2021-22, covering 15 ULBs, including three zones of GHMC — Charminar, Khairatabad and Kukatpally.Weak monitoring, data discrepanciesMonitoring by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) was found to be inadequate, with no effective oversight of compliance at the Jawaharnagar facility. There were also discrepancies in waste data reported by TSPCB and ULBs between 2019-20 and 2021-22.Audit pointed out that GHMC failed to comply with govt orders on levy and collection of environment impact fee while granting Building Permissions, resulting in loss of revenue of Rs 2.29 crore to the govt.“Segregation of waste at different levels was either absent or was being done partially in all the test-checked ULBs. The State/ULBs did not notify the classification of items as domestic hazardous waste and sanitary waste and consequently, the need to segregate them separately was not emphasised. Hence, mixed waste was transported to Jawaharnagar T&D facility in GHMC and to dumpsites in the test-checked other 14 ULBs,” CAG said in its report.Charges not revisedAudit pointed out that GHMC did not make a periodical revision of user charges for household MSW collection with an annual escalation based on wholesale price index. Though mandated in the manual, based on the category of the waste generators, variable rates were not notified.It also did not review the mechanism for collection of user charges for MSW from the railway stations, MMTS and metro stations under its limits and had not reconciled the user charges collected from the railway stations generating more than 100 kg of MSW per day, which have to be categorised as BWGs. GHMC failed to collect tipping fees of Rs 47.77 crore from nine ULBs, one gram panchayat and Secunderabad Cantonment Board.SWM policy lacks clarityThe audit found that the state’s SWM policy lacked clarity, with no defined roles and responsibilities for personnel involved in waste management. It also failed to adequately address the 3R principles — reduce, reuse and recycle. While the State had set a target to limit landfill waste to 20% of total waste generated, this was achieved only in GHMC.The CAG noted that 14 ULBs failed to allocate adequate funds for SWM infrastructure and also did not fully utilise funds under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), leaving 37% of funds unspent as of March 2022.No suitable provisions for C&D wasteThe state govt had not notified a policy for Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management as of Sept 2023. Though C&D Waste processing plants were set up in GHMC at four places, the GHMC Act, 1955 (Act II of 1956), was not amended to make suitable provisions for C&D waste management.The 14 ULBs had neither identified suitable places for C&D waste disposal nor prepared a comprehensive plan for setting up processing facilities to process C&D waste, though mandated as per Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019.The concessionaire company did not operate the plant for C&D waste at full capacity, which resulted in accumulation of C&D waste of 3,51,186 MT in Jeedimetla and 7,11,300 MT in Fathullaguda plants as on March 31, 2022.
