The Hindu 22.01.2015
Training in solid waste management
Training for heads of 42 village panchayats, where the district administration has proposed to introduce ‘Cleaning Guards’ system to effectively execute garbage cleaning and solid waste management programmes, was held at the Collectorate on Tuesday.
Inaugurating the programme, Collector M. Karunakaran said the ‘Cleaning Guards’ system was aimed at carrying out garbage cleaning to ensure better cleanliness. As this scheme is going to be implemented in 2,000 village panchayats across Tamil Nadu, the Centre has given as grant Rs.110 crore to the State. In other words, each selected village panchayat would receive Rs.5.50 lakh for the programme.
As per the norms for getting ‘Cleaning Guards’, the beneficiary village panchayat would have a population of 10,000 and situated close to an urban local body. Or, the village panchayat should house a tourist spot or a major industry or be located close to busy highway or railway station so that ‘Cleaning Guards’ system can be introduced there.
The residents, after separating the degradable and non-degradable garbage in their houses, should hand over it separately to the ‘Cleaning Guards’ as they visit the houses at a specified time every day. While the degradable waste will be converted into manure, the non-degradable waste will be used for filling sanitary and other pits without affecting the groundwater table and environment.
Every 150 family will be covered by a ‘Cleaning Guard’, who will be paid by the village-level Poverty Alleviation Association. He or she will be provided with uniforms, a tricycle, shredder, identity card, gloves, cap etc. Project Director, DRDA, H. Vijayakumar, Project Director, Tamil Nadu Rural Livelihood Programme, Jayakumar, and others participated.
