The Hindu               17.01.2013

Cantonment Board strikes rich with kitchen waste

For more than five years now, St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board has been converting a huge quantity of kitchen waste into manure, while most other local bodies in the city’s suburbs seem to have their lost way in tackling biodegradable waste.

Due to effective implementation of provisions spelt out in Solid Waste Management Rules, 2000, the local body is able to prevent close to 3 tonnes of garbage from entering its dumping yard every day.

Further, kitchen waste is converted into high-quality organic manure through vermin-composting at four places in the Cantonment.

A variety of earthworm native to Africa is used in the vermin-composting process. “For converting municipal solid waste, we have found that Eudrilus eugeniae is much better than the ones naturally found in farmlands around Chennai,” said Shiva Krishnamurthy, senior project director, Hand in Hand, the non-governmental organisation that is helping Cantonment Board in its solid waste management project.

A longer life, faster multiplication and ability to digest kitchen waste faster were the reasons this variety of earthworm was preferred. They are procured from farms in Vedanthangal, Cuddalore and Puducherry.

In the process, each month, the Board is able to generate close to 2 tonnes of manure, which is sold at Rs. 10 per kg. “What we earn from the sales of the manure is negligible, but we are able to reduce a significant amount of garbage from entering our dumping yard,” said S. Prabhakaran, chief executive officer of the Board.

Source segregation is ensured in the 14,500 households and this has also eliminated dumping of waste in public places and subsequent complaints from residents.

Of the 9 tonnes generated everyday, 3 tonnes comprise kitchen waste, recyclable plastic and paper waste in equal measure, said staff.

The 120 workers engaged in primary collection sell the plastic waste they collect, earning additional income of Rs. 50 a day. There are plans to create kitchen gardens in each of the four sheds where vermin-composting is undertaken, the staff said.

News Today             16.01.2014

Chennai Corporation continues crackdown on food stalls on Marina

Chennai: The Chennai Corporation on Thursday continued to seize substandard food products including oil, snacks and water sachets from vendors as part of the drive against the sale of spurious food products on Marina Beach.

Official sources reveal that eatables prepared at unhygienic surroundings remained popular amid beach goers. In today's raid, it is belived to have seized 50 litres of spurious oil, 40kg of unhygienic meat and fish from the vendors on Thursday. A huge crowd gathered on Marina Beach as today is 'Kaanum Pongal' day, and the sale of packaged drinking water, snacks and soft drinks went up. "'We will also conduct raids from afternoon onwards and action will be initiated against vendors selling food items prepared in unhygienic conditions" the official said. Health officials cautioned people to check the manufacturing date and the batch number before purchasing soft drinks and packaged drinking water.