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Solid waste management authority mooted

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Source : The Hindu Date : 28.06.2009

Solid waste management authority mooted

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The former IAS official Philipose Thomas has mooted a solid waste management authority for better coordination between those involved in waste management and the local bodies.

Speaking at a seminar on solid waste management organised by New Media and the Global Forum for Disaster Reduction in the capital on Friday, Mr. Thomas suggested that the ideal way to overcome the problem was not to generate waste.

The former IAS official pointed out that 50 per cent of the waste generated in the country was paper. Making offices paperless and use of both sides of paper for writing would result in less wastage.

He also stressed the need for creating awareness among the public and the children to overcome the problem.

Associate vice-president, marketing and business development, JCB, Amit Gossain, called for the effective use of technology to overcome the problem. Machines should be effectively used and integrated solid waste management should be adopted.

Adopting 4 R’s - refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle - segregation of waste at source, creating awareness and including waste management in the curriculum were some of the steps mooted by him. “Public-private partnership in waste management will go a long way as the government cannot do it alone,” he added.

Vice-president of IL&FS Waste & Urban Services Ltd. Kapil Gupta said it was time to set scientific landfills in the country. “Those in the country are just dumping yards and they look like mountains.”

According to him, e-waste, bio-medical waste and construction and demolition waste will have to be addressed in the coming days.

The IL&FS, in association with Delhi Municipal Corporation, is setting up a 500-tonne construction and demolition waste plant, which is expected to commence functioning in August.

Director of Science Technology & Entrepreneurship Development Project Mohanan Manalil said 6,000 tonnes of waste was being generated daily in the five corporations, 53 municipalities and 999 panchayats in the State.

Last Updated on Sunday, 28 June 2009 12:36
 


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