The Hindu                       02.03.2013

SWM campaign slow off the block

G.V. Prasada Sarma 

GVMC’s campaign and trial run on decentralised solid
waste management scheduled for March first week will now have to wait
for the time being. The plan, announced by Municipal Commissioner M.V.
Satyanarayana at a national workshop on appropriate solid waste
management technologies last month, envisages collection of garbage from
the doorstep of residents after separation into wet and dry waste and
plans for utilising it. The Clean City Campaign is originally to be
unveiled on March 2, followed by inauguration and trial run.

Model code

To
begin with, a meeting was to have been held with people’s
representatives to actively involve them in the major exercise that aims
at the roughly 900 tons of garbage generated by the city everyday.

However,
the meeting could not be held as the model code of conduct was in force
up to February 27 in view of the Legislative Council elections. The
code came into effect a day after the Commissioner announced the SWM
plans.

Meanwhile, GVMC is putting in place logistic
support like cycle-rickshaws, pushcarts or wheel barrows, defining the
duty of sanitary staff, involvement of other officials in monitoring
various disposal mechanisms, earmarking sites for disposal, carrying out
large-scale training for various categories of citizens etc and
involving general public in the campaign.

“We don’t
want to rush into it without readying the logistic support or without
gearing up people with increased awareness and our own staff and
officials for it,” an official added.

Apart from
collection at the doorstep strategies to make apartments and gated
communities use the waste for power generation and setting up biogas
plants at various housing colonies constructed by GVMC are also being
planned as a long-term strategy. Separate routes are being worked out
and bigger vehicles deployed to lift the garbage from rytu bazaars,
kalyanamantapams, hotels, slaughter houses, and meat shops.