Chandigarh, Dec. 28 -- In order to regularise and streamline waste collection in the city, the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) is planning to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between door-to-door garbage collectors of municipal solid waste from commercial units of the city. The draft of the MoU has been included as an agenda in the upcoming MC house meeting, scheduled to be held on Tuesday. According to the proposed MoU draft, the traditional waste collectors who collect door-to-door garbage from shops, offices, hotels, restaurants and other commercial establishments in Chandigarh have been brought under the ambit of MC regulations and rules. Strict penalties have also been introduced for non-compliance by these waste collectors. Rules such as limit to the number of units one waste collector can adhere to, biometric attendance, courteous behaviour, collecting only segregated waste, fixed duty hours have been introduced in the MoU. The MoU also states that the waste collectors are not to demand any money from the owners of shops and doing so will incur a fine on verification of complaint and even termination of contract. In commercial areas across the city, including shops, offices, and eating joints, waste collection is largely being carried out by informal waste collectors, and so far, no formal MoU has been executed between the Chandigarh MC and such collectors for commercial establishments. In order to regularise and streamline the system of waste collection from commercial units, a committee was constituted and the MoU was finalised after deliberations. Contrary to what has been going on in markets and commercial areas over the years, each waste collector shall be assigned an equal number of commercial units for waste collection. The waste collector shall work in the commercial units assigned to him/her. Where the number of commercial units serviced by a waste collector exceeds 200 units, the waste collector shall deploy one additional helper. Such helpers may collect waste from an additional allotment of up to 200 units. No more than one additional helper may be engaged under this provision. The fixed monthly emolument of Rs.25,000 payable to the waste collector shall be increased by 5% on the fixed emolument of the agreement, every year, starting from the first day of the calendar year. The draft MoU also states that the waste collector shall ordinarily perform duties for eight hours per day, comprising five hours in the morning and three hours in theevening. The MoU also calls upon the garbage collector to intimate the area sanitary inspector about each commercial unit which is not segregating waste as per rules and ensure challaning through the area sanitary inspector. The MC, through its inspectors, shall issue challan for non-segregation of waste at source by individuals/shop keepers/owners upon receipt of information from the waste collector. The MC shall assign commercial units to each waste collector, through notification of the Competent Authority. The MC shall provide an adequate number of vehicles, with drivers, for the collection of waste from commercialunits....