Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced the levy of a fixed user fee for door-to-door garbage collection across the city, as part of a renewed campaign to strengthen Bhubaneswar’s cleanliness system and improve its ranking in Swachh Survekshan 2025–26.
Addressing a press conference at the BMC headquarters on Monday, Mayor Sulochana Das said the user fee, which was fixed in 2018 for different categories, will now be actively collected by Swachh Sathis from households, business establishments, hotels, institutions, industries and other organisations. She appealed to citizens to cooperate with the civic body and contribute towards making Bhubaneswar the country’s cleanest city.
The Mayor emphasised that a clean environment and clean air are essential for public health. “If our environment and air remain clean, we will remain healthy. Keeping this in mind, BMC is implementing several measures in line with the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP),” she said. She urged residents to voluntarily participate in cleanliness initiatives and help make the city clean, green and beautiful.
Highlighting the need for a sustainable and permanent sanitation system, the Mayor said the success of the campaign depends on citizens’ cooperation in practices such as door-to-door waste collection, segregation at source and scientific transportation of garbage. She called upon residents to hand over waste only to authorised BMC vehicles, segregate wet, dry and hazardous waste, avoid littering in public places and strictly refrain from burning waste to prevent air pollution.
As part of the Swachh Survekshan process, citizens have also been requested to provide their valuable feedback to support the city’s performance in the national cleanliness ranking.
The BMC has made arrangements for citizens to access information related to the user fee and waste management services through the ‘Safa App’ and a dedicated WhatsApp helpline number, 7653011832. Swachh Sathis have been trained and instructed to collect the user fee from their respective wards in a systematic manner.
BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana has directed the civic body’s IEC (Information, Education and Communication) team to intensify awareness campaigns and inform people about environmental rules and civic responsibilities. Additional Commissioner Kailash Chandra Das elaborated on the user fee structure applicable to various categories of institutions during the press briefing.
Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo and Deputy Commissioner (Environment) N. Ganesh Babu were also present at the press conference.
Concluding her address, the Mayor appealed to citizens to work collectively with the BMC. “Come, let us all join hands to shape Bhubaneswar as a number one city,” she said.
