The Hindu 22.04.2014
Solid waste management programme
Solid waste management programme will be implemented in all the 130 village panchayats in the district in order to ensure safe disposal of solid waste at villages and clean environment, according to Collector N. Venkatachalam.
Addressing a meeting on solid waste management organised by the District Rural Development Agency here on Tuesday, he said the State government planned to implement solid waste management programme in 2,000 panchayats that had a population of more than 10,000 people each in the first phase. The main aim of the programme was to recycle and reuse biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste and dispose them of safely without polluting the environment.
While biodegradable waste would be converted into organic manure and sold to farmers, non-biodegradable waste would be separated and reused and plastic materials sold for recycling. A sanitary worker, known as Green Guard, would be selected for every 150 households at the villages. The DRDA would offer tricycles to collect waste, machines for cleaning, processing and recycling waste, other safety equipment, gadgets, uniform, gloves, cap and identity cards to workers, he added. Special training would be imparted to village panchayat presidents, members of village poverty reduction committees and self-help groups in this regard shortly. Already town panchayats in the district had been implementing solid waste management effectively.
The government decided to implement the system in 12,524 village panchayats in the State in a phased manner.