Solid Waste Management

Kumbakonam Municipality to hold paperless council meet

Monday, 29 December 2014 09:56 administrator

The Hindu 29.12.2014

Kumbakonam Municipality to hold paperless council meet

Part of civic body’s plan to introduce e-governance, seamless service

Stepping into its 148th year, the Kumbakonam Municipality is all set to conduct a paperless council meet, the first of it kind in its history and among the local bodies in the region, here on Tuesday.

The Kumbakonam Municipality came into being in 1866 and during its chequered history has been responsible in developing the civic area and has effectively contributed to the pilgrims' cause, particularly during the Mahamaham festival, which falls once in 12 years.

The next Mahamaham is due in 2016, when the civic body would be celebrating its 150th anniversary.

In fact, the Kumbakonam Municipality bagged the State government's Best Municipality Award for the current year.

In line with the State government's desire to reduce the amount of paper work involved in governmental transactions and to introduce futuristic concepts such as e-governance and paperless office to provide seamless and expeditious service to the public, the municipality has decided to conduct its next regular monthly meet scheduled for Tuesday in a paperless manner.

Officials here claim that this could be the first such instance by a civic body in the region.

Following this, all circulars, agenda for the meetings, invitations and notices have been digitalised and work has been going on at a feverish pace to meet the Tuesday deadline.

All the 45 ward councillors have been given Tablet PCs with 3G connectivity, 8GB memory card, besides being trained in e-signature and other applications necessary for transacting regular business.

The agenda for Tuesday's meet along with the invitations have already been mailed to the respective councillors and officials a couple of days back and they have been duly digitally acknowledged to set the stage for the first paperless council meet.

Already the Kumbakonam Municipality is setting the benchmark in providing separate plastic waste bins to each and every household for effective solid waste management and segregation of waste at source.

Waste management survey reveals lack of direction

Friday, 26 December 2014 10:09 administrator

The Hindu 26.12.2014

Waste management survey reveals lack of direction

Civic body has around 2,300 bins across the city

Segregated collection of waste at source in Ward 44 in Kavundampalayam. —File Photo: M. Periasamy

A study conducted in all the 100 wards on the waste management system has revealed that Coimbatore has several positive factors such as good infrastructure in number of lorries and transit stations, positive attitude of the workers, and a big minus as well – lack of policy or direction.

Conducted by the Clean Cities Foundation, a company, following a contract with the civic body, the study says that the primary collection system, placement of bins, processing and transporting the waste are part of the minus points, as it appears that very little thought has gone into it.

The civic body has around 2,300 bins across the city in 0.3, 0.5, one and two tonne capacity, taking the total capacity to 2,358 tonnes. In volume it works to around 5,000 lakh litre. But the holding capacity of the bins is not fully tapped as members of the public and even conservancy workers dump mixed waste – wet and different types of dry waste. The gross underutilisation results in demand for more bins, the Foundation says and adds that in its study it found that a 6.6 litre bin in the push cart of a conservancy worker took only 1.3 litre inorganic waste and 1.6 litre inorganic (dry) waste.

If segregation of waste at source is practised, it will result in effective utilisation of bins. Plus, if workers sell different types of dry waste – there are around 14 – to recyclers and scrap traders they get to make little money and that incentivises them to collect segregated waste at door steps.

The Foundation has even identified recyclers in its survey and in the wards it carried out the waste management system on an experimental basis, it managed to help the workers earn more. In fact, the workers will be able to sell everything, including human hair, except napkins and diapers.

The two along with organic (wet) waste alone should go to the compost yard, where it will get processed into manure, the study has suggested.

But to push this through, the Corporation needs to have policy and a well-thought out execution plan, as it will also gain financially, as the quantity of waste going to the Vellalore dump yard will come down and this will result in savings in fuel, it adds.

Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan says that the Clean Cities Campaign proposed to be conducted in February is part of this effort and the city will soon improve its waste collection process.

Outsourcing of solid waste management only in 10 wards

Tuesday, 02 December 2014 05:42 administrator

The Hindu 02.12.2014

Outsourcing of solid waste management only in 10 wards

A Chennai-based firm had allotted contract to handle 18 wards

In a sudden move, the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has restricted the private solid waste management firm to carry out garbage cleaning in just 10 wards instead of 18 wards.

The move comes in the wake of reservations expressed by a few councillors to allow conservancy workers of private firm to clean their areas. They are apparently insisting that the garbage cleaning should be carried out only through conservancy workers employed by the corporation.

It had originally given permission to a Chennai-based firm to take up sanitary work and solid waste management in 18 wards. The council had given its approval for privatisation of garbage cleaning about one-and-a-half years ago.

As per the agreement, Srinivas Waste Management agency was asked to take up collection of garbage, segregation at source, and transport it to garbage dump yards. It was given charge of wards 8 and 9 in Srirangam zone; wards 7, 28, 29, 61, 62 and 64 in Ariyamangalam zone; wards 35-39, 63, and 65 in Golden Rock zone and wards 40, 41, and 45 in K. Abishekapuram zone besides Central and Chathram bus stands and Gandhi Market in the city. It had to cover 77,262 households in an area of 50 square km.

However, the private firm has been asked to restrict its activities to 10 wards, two bus stands, and Gandhi Market.

Asked about the reasons for downsizing the work by the private firm, V.P. Thandapani, Commissioner, told The Hindu that the idea was to ensure zero garbage in 10 wards. The private firm had been asked to show the results in the allotted areas and Gandhi Market. The authorities would closely follow the cleaning activities.

About the reported opposition by a few councillors, he said the decision was arrived after a long process and discussion at the council meeting. He had received requests from a few more councillors to outsource the garbage cleaning works. However, it was for the council to take a call on this.

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