New Delhi: To promote waste segregation at source among residents, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is likely to soon implement an alternate-day collection system across all wards.Under the proposed plan, wet waste would be collected on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, while dry waste will be picked up on the rest of the days of the week.The decision was recently taken by the civic body in compliance with Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026. Notified by the Centre, they have replaced the 2016 regulations and will come into effect from April 1. They mandate strict four-stream segregation at the source — wet, dry, sanitary and special care wastes — and apply to all urban and rural areas in the city.“While bylaws have to be notified, a decision has been taken to adopt prominent points mentioned in the new rules,” said officials.To implement these rules and chart a way forward, the issues were discussed at length with zonal deputy commissioners and other stakeholders during a meeting chaired by corporation commissioner Sanjeev Khirwar on Feb 7. “It was decided that all zones will prepare and implement a ward-wise, zone-specific blueprint for enforcement of segregation at source to maximise community-led waste management,” one of the officials said.Deputy commissioners may also adopt a ward-wise phasing plan — beginning with the implementation of a pilot project, followed by scaling it up and full enforcement — based on their assessment, according to the circular issued by Khirwar.A ward-wise plan for municipal waste is a structured, localised strategy. Instead of rolling out reforms across the entire city at once, this approach enables targeted improvements like 100% door-to-door collection or segregated waste collection in selected wards, which can then be reviewed and expanded to other places in phases.The circular also emphasises diversion of segregated waste to centralised and decentralised processing facilities to reduce the burden on existing dumpsites, and calls for identification of additional sites where such facilities can be established.Further, each ward will have a designated nodal officer responsible for enforcing the segregation, monitoring door-to-door collection, compliance by bulk-waste generators and ensuring zero-waste colonies and decentralised processing units.The officers were directed to hold meetings with the informal sector and provide incentives. Identification and registration of all generators on the ‘311′ app of MCD is to be ensured, with special focus on banquet halls, resorts, farmhouses, educational institutions, hotels and motels.The circular proposes issuing penalty notices to non-compliant generators, while extending incentives like property tax rebates to encourage adherence to norms.For revival of zero-waste colonies, zones were asked to revisit all notified colonies, identify non-compliant ones and restore them to zero-waste status through infrastructure support and engaging community and the informal sector.Aero bins and intermediate storage facilities for wet and dry waste may be provided through CSR fu-nds, Swachh Bharat Missi-on funding or sanitation budget. Zones have been given a target of identifying two to five new zero-waste colonies every month. The circular also stresses reviving and restarting existing ward-level composting units for processing wet waste at source. It directs the nodal officer and sanitation inspector of a ward to ensure daily availability of safai karamcharis at composting sites to ensure smooth operations.
