The Hindu         22.04.2014 

Solid waste management programme

Officials at the meeting on solid waste management in Theni on Tuesday.— PHOTO: G. KARTHIKEYAN

Solid waste management programme will be implemented in all the 130 village panchayats in the district in order to ensure safe disposal of solid waste at villages and clean environment, according to Collector N. Venkatachalam.

Addressing a meeting on solid waste management organised by the District Rural Development Agency here on Tuesday, he said the State government planned to implement solid waste management programme in 2,000 panchayats that had a population of more than 10,000 people each in the first phase. The main aim of the programme was to recycle and reuse biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste and dispose them of safely without polluting the environment.

While biodegradable waste would be converted into organic manure and sold to farmers, non-biodegradable waste would be separated and reused and plastic materials sold for recycling. A sanitary worker, known as Green Guard, would be selected for every 150 households at the villages. The DRDA would offer tricycles to collect waste, machines for cleaning, processing and recycling waste, other safety equipment, gadgets, uniform, gloves, cap and identity cards to workers, he added. Special training would be imparted to village panchayat presidents, members of village poverty reduction committees and self-help groups in this regard shortly. Already town panchayats in the district had been implementing solid waste management effectively.

The government decided to implement the system in 12,524 village panchayats in the State in a phased manner.

The Hindu        02.03.2015  

Corporation to go the solar way

A portion of the building of Vellore Corporation will soon be powered with solar energy.—Photo: C. Venkatachalapathy

The Vellore Corporation is all set to go the solar way. It is taking steps to harness the energy for its office building and later expand it to the zonal offices and urban health posts.

It is currently working out ways to install solar panels on the rooftop of its building on Infantry Road. Officials said it has been proposed to generate 40 KVA (kilo volt ampere) of solar power. Technical and administrative nod has already been obtained.

Cost-cutting

“We are planning to tap solar energy to power the entire Corporation building,” an official said. The Corporation pays about Rs. 50,000 per month towards electricity charges and harnessing solar energy will help in cutting down this cost, they added.

The local body is now in the process of cancelling its previous tender for the work as the company had quoted a high cost for the project. It had issued the work order to an energy-based company.

However, the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA), in a letter, had said that the equipment required to generate 40 KW of solar power costs Rs. 40 lakh, while the company that was awarded the tender had quoted over Rs. 94 lakh.

As this would incur double cost for the Corporation, it was decided to cancel the work order issued. An official said that a Chennai-based company recognised by TEDA is being roped in for the job. This way, the local body gets to spend lesser. It takes Rs. 7.83 lakh to install equipment to generate 10 KW solar power.

The Corporation council’s nod has also been obtained. Officials said the work is likely to begin in a month or two. They said the number of panels to be installed on the rooftop will be according to the requirements of the building. However, the entire space available could be utilised.

“First, we are planning to generate and utilise solar power for the main Corporation building that is ground plus two floors.

Next, it has been proposed to tap solar energy for the four zonal offices, followed by nine urban health posts,” an official.