The Times of India               12.06.2013

Credai to treat medical waste

KOCHI: With biomedical waste treatment becoming a major issue in city apartments, the Kochi-chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (Credai) has decided to launch a project to address the issue under the Clean City Movement.

The project will be introduced on a pilot basis in 25 apartment complexes in the city and suburban municipalities in July in coordination with the Indian Medical Association (IMA). Biomedical waste will be collected from selected apartments and treated at IMA's biomedical waste treatment plant in Palakkad.

"The Clean City Movement presently covers biodegradable and plastic waste. The new project will aim to provide a permanent solution for waste treatment in apartments. At present, biomedical waste is disposed by burning, which in turn results in pollution," said Credai Clean City Movement executive director Jose Joseph. The biomedical waste will be collected either on a daily basis or on alternative days. "The IMA has necessary logistics for collecting waste from the city. It will be done early morning," Joseph said.

According to Credai, letters have been sent to 100 apartment associations for the pilot project. Apartments will be selected on first-come-first-serve basis. Each apartment complex will be charged Rs 1,500 as registration fee and individual flats will have to pay Rs 50 as monthly fee.

The project will be later extended to over 300 apartments in the city.

Last October, Credai-Kochi chapter had announced setting up a biomedical waste treatment plant in Kochi in association with IMA, similar to the one in Palakkad.

Credai is, currently, in the process of identifying land to set up the plant. According to the association, the facility will have capacity to cover all apartments under the project once it begins operations.

The Hindu                11.06.2013

Decentralised garbage management from July 15

Staff Reporter

The decentralised solid waste management with financial aid from Hudco will be launched from July 15, Municipal Commissioner M. V. Satyanarayana has said.

A meeting with Hudco officials is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in New Delhi. Hudco has committed itself to extend financial aid of Rs. 3 crore under corporate social responsibility to enable the civic body with 520 sq km area and 20 lakh population take up the new SWM.

The new programme envisages transportation to dump yards in each of the six zones for disposal -- with separation of garbage as dry and wet at the doorstep of about 4 lakh households -- will help the civic body, the second largest in the State, comply with Solid Waste Management Rules 2000 of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Satyanarayana said the government had given guidelines to go ahead, pending the agreement for integrated SWM with Ramky environmental engineers.

Though the decentralised SWM was planned for March the government raising queries was one of the reasons for the delay.

The company is reportedly unwilling to absorb 5,000-odd sanitation workers and is insisting instead on 2100.

The commissioner maintained that the Ramky issue involved various aspects which the government was examining.

On the Kapuluppada dumpyard, he said it was levelled now and would be used later for making compost. For sale of garage accumulated for several years now, tenders were called but only one met all the conditions. Mr. Satyanarayana said tenders were called again, relaxing conditions.

Once the new plan is implemented, pollution to which residents near Kapuluppada were objecting, would be reduced.

Also another site of 200 acres at Tunglam would be taken for SWM. He assured that unlike the Kapuluppada yard, all AP Pollution Control Board norms would be adhered to.