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Solid Waste Management

Corporation plans to treat organic waste using biomethanisation units

Thursday, 06 June 2013 12:14 administrator
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The Times of India               06.06.2013

Corporation plans to treat organic waste using biomethanisation units

COIMBATORE: The city municipal corporation is mulling a proposal to set up small biomethanisation units for treating organic waste generated at the newly opened low budget Amma canteens in the city. The corporation has started 10 such tiffin centres and is expected to further expand to other parts of the city in the coming days. The proposal however is in the initial stages and officials are now studying its feasibility.

"We are exploring the possibility of setting up biomethanisation plants for Amma Unaivagams. A suggestion has been put forth and we will study it in detail in the coming days," said S Sivarasu, Deputy Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation.

The corporation launched its tiffin centres earlier this week with much fanfare and has been receiving tremendous response from the public. Though the canteen is expected to operate for three hours in the morning for breakfast and another three hours in the afternoon, the food is sold out within the first two hours itself. The total quantity of food prepared at each centre includes 1200 idlis, 300 servings of Sambhar and Curd rice for lunch. The civic body will also analyse the total quantity of waste generated from these centres.

The corporation has already proposed the setting up of bigger biomethanisation units near Anna Aringar market and also at the proposed new site for the whole sale market in Kavundampalayam. The total capacity of these units is expected to be more than five metric tonnes. Corporation Commissioner G Latha had inspected biomethanisation plants being operated by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) which will be emulated here. The department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply has already sent circulars to all municipal corporations in the state to identify spots to set up and operate biomethanisation plants as part of its project to set up decentralised waste treatment centres in urban areas.

 

Chennai residents can soon pitch in to keep their streets clean

Thursday, 06 June 2013 04:06 administrator
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The Hindu               06.06.2013

Chennai residents can soon pitch in to keep their streets clean

Civic needAt present, 15,000 workers clear 4,900 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day —Photo: R. Shivaji Rao
Civic needAt present, 15,000 workers clear 4,900 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day —Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

The Chennai Corporation has decided to use the services of residents on a part-time basis to improve conservancy operations in the city. The civic body will soon invite applications from residents including students, self-help groups and cooperatives and create a database of personnel for conservancy operations.

Under the existing system, in a day, a conservancy worker is permitted to take eight hours to sweep 500 metres of a road with a median, for a daily wage of Rs. 300.

On roads without medians, a worker is required to sweep a 250-metre stretch in eight hours. Each of the 5,000 temporary conservancy workers is paid Rs. 300 per day.

The workers start work at 6 a.m. but recently, delays in completion of work have become recurrent. Many roads are cleaned only after 11 a.m., causing garbage to pile up in many areas. According to a Corporation official, the new system with a large number of workers on the rolls, will permit part-time workers to work for just one or two hours per day at a wage of Rs. 40-Rs. 60 per hour.

This initiative will increase the number of workers cleaning the streets on a day from 15,000 to more than 50,000. The work will cover street cleaning and door-to-door collection of garbage. All the workers will be given protective gear. At present, the 15,000 workers, including 10,000 permanent staff members, clear 4,900 tonnes of municipal solid waste a day.

Once the new system is implemented, most of the roads will be clean by 8 a.m., an official said. A larger number of personnel will be at work simultaneously, with no significant change in the cost of operations, he added.

After the Chennai Corporation council approved the proposal for gradual privatisation of conservancy operations in all zones of the city, a number of new initiatives have been run on a trial basis.

Privatisation of conservancy operations is in place in zones such as Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar. Night conservancy operations have also been increased on many streets.

The efforts of the Corporation to use suitable technology for better conservancy operations, however, are yet to take off. The civic body is pinning all its hopes on alternative solutions to cope with challenges to municipal solid waste management.

 

Ariyamangalam garbage dump fire extinguished

Friday, 24 May 2013 04:35 administrator
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The Hindu                 24.05.2013

Ariyamangalam garbage dump fire extinguished

Special Correspondent

‘Option of scientific closure of dump to be pursued vigorously’

: The raging fire at Ariyamangalam garbage dump since Tuesday afternoon was extinguished on Thursday. However, fire-fighters, officials said, would remain at the spot until the smoke continuing to emanate from burnt heaps of garbage is completely put out.

Residents in Rajappa Nagar, Thideer Nagar and other localities in the vicinity of the dump where thick smog created by the raging fire caused severe choking heaved a sigh of relief. According to to Raju Rebero and Babu, residents of these localities the smell of burnt garbage could be felt even in farther places such as Rail Nagar and Ambikapuram localities.

The irritation and smell caused to the throat was perceptible, Raju Rebero added. Corporation Commissioner V.P. Thandapani who accompanied expert teams from Bangalore and Chennai to the dump yard on Thursday said the option of scientific closure of the dump estimated by a team of National Institute of Technology-Tiruchi to contain 10 lakh metric tonnes of garbage through bio-capping would be pursued vigorously as a long-term solution. The visit by the teams to the dump site follows an inspection by the Commissioner of Municipal Administration Chandrakant B. Kamble on Wednesday.

Part of the land in the garbage dump would be retrieved through vertical filling.

The height would be increased from the present five metres to 10 metres before initiating the bio-capping process and green-topping the mound, the Commissioner said.

Of the 500 tonnes of garbage the city generates, the Integrated Waste Management and Urban Services Company (Tamil Nadu) Limited (IWMUST) has been entrusted with the responsibility of segregating and processing 300 tonnes.

The agency was already disposing 100 tonnes of garbage. Another agency would have to be identified for processing the remaining garbage.

 
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