Urban News

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Solid Waste Management

Approval awaited for PCMC's e-waste mgmt centre

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 11:27 administrator
Print PDF

The Times of India 01.09.2009

Approval awaited for PCMC's e-waste mgmt centre

Siddharth Gaikwad, TNN 1 September 2009, 01:31am IST

PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's (PCMC) plan to start a collection, segregation, processing and recycling centre for e-waste at Moshi is yet to start, with an approval from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) awaited.

Speaking to TOI on Saturday, Nagkumar Kunchagi, medical officer, PCMC, said, "The civic body has appointed Green Enviro Solutions to operate the centre at Moshi. The standing committe had passed a resolution in 2007 to allot five acres of land of the garbage depot for the centre. But the centre is yet to start."

When contacted by TOI, B K Mirashe, regional officer, Pune region, MPCB, said, "We have received a proposal from the PCMC for setting up an e-waste management centre. The proposal has been sent to the MPCB head office (in Mumbai) for further approval."

Expressing the need for proper treatment of e-waste, Kunchagi said, "The amount of e-waste generated in cities is increasing with the rise in the use of high technology devices by citizens. The total e-waste generated in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad is 8,000 tonnes per year. There is a need for setting up a network for the collection, segregation, processing and recycling of e-waste."

"The PCMC was to only provide the land while Green Enviro Solutions was to set up the centre and collect, segregate and recycle the e-waste," he explained.

E-waste can be categorised as low value, toxic and precious waste, Kunchagi pointed out. Low value e-waste comprises tin, zinc, iron and copper. Gold, silver and palladium are categorised as precious e-waste. Toxic e-waste comprises lead, cadmium, arsenic, bismuth and mercury. “The extraction of precious waste from e-waste is costly as it requires expensive smelters,” he added.
 

JMC move to revise by-laws

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 11:20 administrator
Print PDF

The Times of India 01.09.2009

JMC move to revise by-laws

TNN 1 September 2009, 05:13am IST

JAIPUR: The Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC), has taken the initiative to revise and strengthen existing by-laws. According to Shikha Jain, director, Development and Research Organisation for Nature Arts and Heritage (DRONAH), the restoration consultant, the Jaipur Nagar Nigam had asked for a proposal to prepare a comprehensive urban design guideline and by-laws for the Walled City. JMC wants this as a checklist to approve development, extension and conservation work executed by private owners or government departments.

Meant to supplement the ongoing initiatives, the special regulations handbook includes the formulation of facade control and urban design guidelines for the entire Walled City. The guidelines essentially are meant to be used by the JMC Heritage Conservation Committee/Heritage Cell to review any projects or proposals in the Walled City.

So far, around 35% of houses in the inner city and "chowkris" have been demolished since 1971 and replaced with new structures by their owners. While the city's residents' leaning towards modern trends and architecture keeps increasing, tourists who come from all over the world are gradually missing the familiar (historic) template of the city, which they are so familiar with, thanks to the sites on the Internet and other sources, which depict the city's splendour through its grand construction.

However, striking a balance, the "special regulations handbook" is also meant for the users/owners of buildings in the Walled City. It helps them maintain the historic character of the city.

Steered by DRONAH, in association with their local partner, Jaipur Virasat Foundation, the recommendations have evolved out of surveys and analysis of the entire historic core spread in an area of 6.7 sq km to determine characteristic guidelines for each city area.

"Each area (chowk, commercial street, inner street) in the Walled City will also have a Facade Control Guidelines Booklet. There are details on planning and use of spaces, architectural typologies, street facade elements and furniture," said Jain.

But like any other project, despite the in-principal approval, the project is still awaiting the final approval by the JMC.

Box

Considering the scale and nature of the Walled City, it is proposed that the work will be carried out in phases taking the two of the following areas in each phase:

1. City Gates and City Walls

2. Chowks and Commercial Streets

3. Chowkri Purani Basti Inner streets and Public Spaces

4. Chowkri Topkhana Desh Inner streets and Public Spaces

5. Chowkri Modikhana and Chowkri Visheshwarji Inner streets and Public Spaces

6. Chowkri Ghat Darwaza Inner streets and Public Spaces

7. Chowkri Ramchandraji Inner streets and Public Spaces

8. Chowkri Gangapol Inner streets and Public Spaces

9. Chowkri Topkhana Hazuri Inner streets and Public Spaces

10. Chowkri Sarhad Public Spaces, road widths and Public Building facades

 

Untrained hands handle toxic e-waste

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 05:31 administrator
Print PDF

Deccan Chronicle 01.09.2009

‘Untrained hands handle toxic e-waste’

September 1st, 2009
By Our Correspondent

Bengaluru, Aug. 31: Bengaluru, India’s IT hub, generates an average of 6,000 to 8,000 tonnes of toxic electronic waste every year. With the quantity of waste increasing with each passing year, the process of recycling it is becoming a cause for concern with only a small percentage being streamlined as per the e-waste management system. In a study conducted in Bengaluru, Rajyashree N. Reddy, a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota who also holds a masters degree in environmental science from Yale University, presents Bengaluru’s current status on technology and the modern waste management system envisioned for the city.

What is Bengaluru’s position in the technology sector that contributes largely to generation of e-waste in India?

It is called India’s Silicon Valley and the bulk of this waste is generated by the IT firms of the city. It is estimated that Bengaluru constitutes 33 per cent of India’s share of software exports. Additionally, 30 per cent of computers in the IT sector become obsolete every year. This is processed with few or no safety precautions by petty recyclers and scrap dealers or informal recyclers drawn from the city’s marginalised communities.

What about highly toxic waste? Is that also handled by informal recyclers?

Toxic waste such as mercury requires highly sophisticated equipment that a city e-waste management organisation or a scrap dealer cannot afford to possess. It isn’t a backyard kind of disposal system. The Indo-German-Swiss initiative along with the state pollution board for e-waste management stopped the informal recyclers citing unsafe methods and environmental factors.

Bengaluru has a system of e-waste management that functions to an extent. But is there still leaks in the system of waste management along with extensive toxic electronic waste entering the country from outside?

There is no specification on all IT firms ensuring a proper disposal of their waste and in that sense there maybe leakages. India is a source for dumping e-waste from developed countries and despite regulations, transnational dumping of e-waste continues to happen in India. This easily enters the country and the state as waste is miscategorised.

What is the way forward for management of e-waste?
The onus of appropriate disposal of waste must lie on the producer of the electronic device. This is a model that a few tech parks in the city are considering employing. India, though yet to develop an e-waste legislation, must consider this to manage its e-waste.

 
More Articles...


Page 249 of 265