The Times of India              02.09.2013

Waste collection resumes at Palayam after two years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The residents of Palayam were in for a surprise on Sunday when they found Cleanwell workers on their doorsteps to collect waste; a routine affair that had ceased to exist for the past two years.

In a model that will soon be replicated in other wards, the corporation resumed waste collection and processing at Palayam on Sunday. Since many households were ignorant about the renewed system, many of them hadn't segregated the waste. Although corporation had begun issuing notices to households two days ago, many residents seemed to be unaware of the renewal of waste collection.

On Sunday, the corporation's vehicle made three trips and unloaded around 120-150 kg of waste. Waste was collected from about 300 households. The trial run of biogas plant had begun on August 1.The officials said that the processing of the waste went on without any technical hitches.

The health standing committee on Thursday entrusted a team of 20 Cleanwell workers with the task. They were equipped with two vehicles. Notices will be distributed among the residents of Palayam. Plastic waste, which needs to be segregated and cleaned, will also be collected by the team. While the waste will be processed at the biogas plant set up at Palayam market, the plastic waste will be handed over to a group of rag pickers from Tamil Nadu at a reasonable price.

The biogas plant at Palayam is being set up at a cost of Rs 26 lakh. The plant works on bio-methanization process where the organic waste is converted into methane, which in turn is converted into electricity. The biogas plant, which is the biggest plant so far set up by the city corporation, measures 9m in diameter and 5m in height. The digester of the plant will have a capacity to process 2 tonnes of waste per day. The biogas generated from the digester will be passed through a filter into the generator where it will be converted into electricity. The electricity generated from the plant will be used to light up LED lamps in the pathway and in the market.

Chairman of welfare standing committee Palayam Rajan said that the waste collection process will be conducted in full swing in the coming days. "There was a slight confusion among the households regarding the new system and many of them hadn't carried out the basic process of segregation. Segregation is going to be the key aspect in decentralized waste management and we are not going to compromise on that," said Rajan.