The Hindu        14.10.2014 

User charges on property tax assesses for garbage clearance

The Madurai Corporation is the latest urban local body to embrace the idea of levying user charges on certain sections of property tax assesses for garbage clearance.

Madurai is, however, not a solitary case. Some other urban local bodies have been levying the user charges.

Recently, Avadi has decided to introduce the levy, where the monthly charges vary from Rs. 200 to Rs. 2,000. An official points out that Sembakkam municipality is netting a monthly revenue of Rs. 3.5 lakh to Rs. 4 lakh.

Asked whether it is not part of the core functions of any local body to collect garbage, the officials reply that ideally, a local body should devote greater attention to the functions of disposal and treatment of waste than that of collection.

But, in reality, it is the other way round. Manpower shortage and increasing transportation cost are stretching the resources of the local bodies beyond the manageable level.

In Madurai, the quantity of waste was around 300 tonnes to 400 tonnes a day three years ago. After its limits have been enlarged, it is now around 700 tonnes to 800 tonnes.

The present daily generation of solid waste by 135 urban local bodies (other than Chennai) is about 7,300 tonnes. In Chennai, it is 5,000 tonnes. (A senior official of the Chennai Corporation says no such charge is made).

The focus of the present drive is on “bulk generators of waste” such as shopping complexes, hotels, restaurants and hospitals. Generally, domestic category of property tax assesses is not covered.

The levy can result in waste reduction too, the officials add.

N. Jegatheesan, president of the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNCCI), who terms the proposed charges of the Madurai Corporation unfair, says that if the local bodies focus on bulk generators, there will not be any problem.

An official responds that the move is only in the initial stages and the final decision will be taken only after holding a public hearing and taking an approval of the government.  

The Hindu         11.10.2014      

Cleanliness drive begins

The Salem Corporation has intensified its campaign for dengue prevention and control in the wake of monsoon season.

Over 225 people, including workers of the malaria eradication programme, members of women self-help groups, have been involved in vigorous campaigning for the past few days to check dengue. The focus of the measures is on source reduction and fogging operation.

The corporation has mobilised these workers to conduct house-to-house survey for gathering information and also for mass education programme to contain the disease in the city limits.

Special teams formed by K.V. Arjun Kumar, City Health Officer, have been visiting the residences in all the four zonal divisions of the corporation — Hasthampatti, Ammapettai, Sooramangalam and Kondalampatti to identify the breeding places of mosquitoes and destroy it and create awareness among people on the simple steps to be followed to eradicate the disease.

In its search for measures to prevent this disease, the civic body decided to attack the problem at its roots and has trained its guns on the source — the household water storage facilities.

The special teams visit every house and create awareness on sanitation. Focus is also on reducing the number of potential breeding grounds for the dengue-carrying Aedes mosquitoes, which usually thrive on stagnant water on discarded tyres, indoor plant pots, grinding stones, coconut shells, broken utensils and bottles, old plastic bags, and drainages.

They identify the old tyres, and other articles which store waste water, remove them from the premises instantly and deposit them in the corporation lorry that follows.

Fogging machines have been pressed into service and the fogging operation is carried out inside the houses. This will be a continuous operation, Corporation sources told The Hindu on Friday.

The initiative of the Corporation has been well received by the local people.