With 11 days to ago for the Central Government’s move to usher in segregated waste collection across the country, the Coimbatore Corporation, it appears, is facing a number of challenges.

The Central Government had said that starting June 5, World Environment Day, local bodies across the country should go in for collecting waste in segregated fashion - wet, degradable waste in a bin, and dry, recyclable waste in another bin.

The Government had also suggested that the local bodies give bins to households and paint its roadside bins blue and green while collecting waste in segregated fashion. Following the Government’s suggestion, the Corporation set up a team to identify what it should do to implement the segregated waste collection - both in terms of men and material.

The team in turn asked the five zonal conservancy officers to assess and report the field-level requirements.

Rough data from the ground suggests that the Corporation requires 500 push carts, 50 autorickshaw-type vehicles to carry waste, 1,000 roadside bins and nearly five lakh plastic bins to be given to households and 500 conservancy workers.

Currently, the Corporation has 4,800 conservancy workers, including 2,300 contract workers, 1,500 roadside bins and 1,500 push carts.

Sources familiar with the developments say that the Corporation is yet to take a call on this as senior officials have indicated that purchase of new bins or push carts depends on the money in the coffers. And, in all probability, the Corporation may do away with giving bins to households.

As for training workers, the Corporation has already completed the task a few days ago. But it is recruiting new workers to meet the shortfall, then it has to train them. And, it has to do so quick because there is very little time left.

The sources say that the Corporation has engaged office bearers of residents’ welfare associations, apartments and gated communities on segregated collection through zonal assistant commissioners and conservancy officers.

But it appears that the civic body is yet to reach out to all residents welfare associations and apartments.

Likewise, the Corporation is yet to complete repainting the bins blue and green and repairing damaged bins. If this is not complete, segregated waste collection will take a hit.

The intensive communication campaign the Corporation has planned to educate residents is also yet to take off, the source say and add that if the civic body fails to pull up its socks, the Government’s efforts will not succeed, they add.