The Hindu       20.01.2015   

Door-to-door garbage collection to begin in areas under GPs

Dakshina Kannada Water and Sanitation Committee in its meeting on Monday decided that garbage (solid waste) collection from the doorsteps of establishments in semi-urban areas in the jurisdiction of at least five gram panchayats in Belthangady and Mangaluru taluks should start with in a month.

Asha Thimmappa Gowda, president, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, presided over the meeting.

The meeting decided to start the collection jointly by the respective gram panchayats and Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP), a non-governmental organisation.

It decided that collection could start from five to 10 gram panchayats around Dharmasthala in Belthangady taluk, because a solid waste dumping site near Dharmasthala was ready for use.

In Mangaluru taluk the collection should be taken up from gram panchayats near Konaje as Mangaluru University could allot some land under its ownership for dumping.

Satish Kumpala, vice-president of the zilla panchayat, told the meeting talks were on with the university to secure a portion of its land for the purpose.

Lack of dumping sites

Both the president and vice-president said that dumping of waste in semi-urban areas in the jurisdiction of gram panchayats had emerged as an issue for lack of suitable dumping sites.

On the other hand, plastic menace in semi-urban and rural areas was becoming alarming.

To keep semi-urban areas clean, collection of waste from the doorsteps should start wherever suitable sites were available. As a beginning it should start from the two taluks.

“We have had a number of meetings on the issue. There is no point in remaining only in discussion stage. Action should happen in at least some gram panchayats,” Mr. Kumpala told the meeting.

He said that unless a beginning was made it would be difficult to keep semi-urban areas clean.

Earlier, a representative of the SKDRDP explained to the meeting how the NGO was collecting garbage from the doorsteps in Chikkamagaluru town in association with the urban local body there.

Plastic buntings ban

Ms. Gowda instructed all gram panchayats to ban displaying plastic buntings in their jurisdiction. She said that paper and cloth buntings could be allowed.

Solid waste dumping site near Dharmasthala is ready for use

The Hindu         14.01.2015     

Self-cleaning e-Toilets in Tirupati soon

Compact steel structures, currently under construction at three major locations in the temple city, seem to have sparked a sense of inquiry among denizens and devotees. Failing to blend in with the surroundings, these futuristic cabins have garnered a stream of curious onlookers, who curiously ask workers repeatedly about its function. These are nothing but the state-of-the-art, fully automated e-Toilets, soon to be introduced by the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT).

These toilets, developed by a private company, Eram Scientific, will be set up at three arterial junctions in the city - at Central Bus Station and near pilgrim amenities complex Vishnu Nivasam opposite Railway Parcel Office and near Urban SP Office.

Welcoming the introduction of automated toilets, Municipal Engineer B. Chandrasekhar said the units, which cost Rs.5.5 lakh each, would have all information about its usage in local languages.

It has exits and hooters to alert people outside in case of emergency.

“People can use these toilets by inserting a nominal amount of Rs.2/5, which is yet to be finalised by the Municipal Corporation. Subsequently, the door is opened and occupancy of the cabin is displayed outside.

After every five uses, it automatically flushes the floor and has tissues/napkins for the people using it,” he added.

Mr. Chandrasekhar said the toilets would require less human intervention as inbuilt sensors monitor the situation inside the cabins.

“The corporation is building tanks at the respective facilities to address water shortage and the company’s service engineer would be training engineers and workers for six months,” he maintained.