Ranchi Mandates Safe Distance for Waste Plants: New Rules Target Public Health

Ranchi: In a major push towards public health and environmental safety, state development commissioner Ajoy Kumar Singh has directed officials to ensure that all upcoming waste processing plants are set up at a safe distance from residential areas, hospitals and water supply sources so that citizens are not adversely affected.

Chairing the maiden meeting of the newly constituted state-level core committee for implementation and monitoring of the Solid Waste Management Rules 2026 late on Thursday, Singh asked all stakeholder departments to prepare a detailed action plan for effective and systematic enforcement of the new rules across urban as well as rural areas of the state.

To strengthen rural waste management, Singh directed deputy commissioners in all districts to identify suitable sites at the panchayat level for waste segregation and prepare plans for establishing processing plants. He said, “Two to three clusters should be developed in each district where waste can be collected and processed using scientific methods.”

The meeting also saw detailed discussions on engaging third-party agencies for door-to-door waste collection. Singh said, “These external agencies should be tasked with collecting waste directly from households and transporting it efficiently to the designated processing plants.”

He also stressed the need to clearly define the accountability of panchayats and called for a strong mechanism to collect waste at the grass roots and move it to segregation units.

As part of the decentralised strategy, directions were issued to create a comprehensive waste processing system by identifying central points within a radius of 50 to 60 kilometres.