Tiruchi Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran has called for
active participation of all stakeholders in enforcing the revamped rules
on solid waste management.

Inaugurating a one-day workshop on
Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, organised by the Ministry of Housing
and Urban Affairs and the Ministry of Forests and Environment in
association with Tiruchi City Corporation here on Tuesday, he said that
as per the revamped Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling)
rules, 2016, every citizen had a duty to segregate waste at source,
store them separately and hand them over to sanitary workers.

As
mandated by the rules, Tiruchi Corporation had already made source
segregation compulsory. Sanitary workers were reaching more than 2.5
lakh households and commercial establishments daily in the city to
collect solid waste. The system had begun showing expected results.

Mr.
Ravichandran said the participation of various stakeholders, including
citizens, officials, sanitary workers, civic activists and
environmentalists, was important for success. The main waste generators,
including markets, industrial houses, hotels, restaurants, hostels and
marriage halls, should develop on-site composting system to produce
organic manure from biodegradable waste. They should also explore the
possibilities of converting waste into energy.

Preeti Dinesh
kumar, Assistant Director, National Productivity Council, who
coordinated the workshop, said civic bodies had to take time-bound
actions to implement the revamped solid waste management rules. They had
been communicated the methods and best practices of handling and
disposing six categories of solid waste including e-waste.

It had so far conducted workshops in Chennai and Madurai. It would conduct a similar workshop in Coimbatore soon.