Source : The Hindu Date : 22.06.2009
Creating a strong base for waste segregation
K.V. Prasad
| Nine wards chosen to implement waste disposal measures |
VALUABLE TIPS: Mayor R. Venkatachalam (second right) educates people in Ward 43 on segregation of waste.
COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation is into creating a strong base on which it can establish a system for successful segregation of waste at source (at the place of generation, namely houses or commercial establishments).
After a decade-long groping for a solution for disposal of garbage, the Corporation seems to be coming from the right direction: from the grassroots to the grandiose. It has plans to convert garbage into manure. A grander plan is to create a park over a landfill of non-biodegradable waste. But, the first task is to make the public segregate waste and store it in bins at home than throw it on the road.
Nine wards have been chosen to implement segregation of waste and the success will turn them into model zones for the rest of the city to emulate.
From the Mayor to the Councillor and from the Commissioner to the conservancy worker, the Corporation machinery is focussing on educating the public on storing biodegradable waste in green bins and the non-biodegradable waste in white bins. They are also being told that they should hand over garbage only to the conservancy workers every day.
Mayor R. Venkatachalam demonstrated segregation at Ward 43 recently in addition to the Corporation distributing the stickers with guidelines on segregation.
The ward itself seems to have prepared a plan of action over the last two years on how to set about segregation and also primary collection.
“We identified areas where bins could be placed along roads and prepared a list of streets, their length and also the number of houses and population. We are working on forming a ward committee to oversee segregation,” ward councillor N. Tamilselvi says. Every house, tea stall, hotel, marriage hall, liquor shop and other establishments that generate garbage are in the list.
“We were the first to prepare such an action plan and submit it to Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra. Corrections and improvements were made to it and similar plans were worked out for the other eight wards also,” she claims.
The aim is to make garbage collection easy for the workers also. Ground floor houses will be allocated to older workers as they may not be able to climb the stairs. Ward 43 is among the nine model wards that have a list of available and required manpower and also the availability of equipment for garbage collection.