The Hindu                      23.02.2013

Experts to pitch in with ideas on waste management

Staff Reporter 

The Chennai Corporation has intensified efforts to chalk out a strategy to cope with emerging challenges of solid waste management.

Fire in dumping yards, protests by residents and conservancy challenges associated with privatisation of operations have turned out to be causes of concern for the civic body.

Senior officials of the civic body have sought advice from experts at research institutions including IIT, Anna University and city NGOs.

One of such meetings with NGOs was organised at the Ripon Buildings recently.

Organisations such as Cities Development Initiatives for Asia (CDIA) participated in the meeting. CDIA is a regional initiative that provides a range of international and domestic expertise to cities including support for preparation of pre-feasibility studies of high-priority infrastructure investment projects.

The firms that will set up new solid waste management plants in Kuthambakkam and Minjur are likely to be finalised shortly.

As the work is expected to commence by May, the civic body is likely to soon chalk out a strategy for solid waste management with the help of experts.

The strategy would include devising simple methods to cope with problems such as pollution and fires in dumping yards, and protests by residents.

By the end of 2014, solid waste generated in the city will be transported to Kuthambakkam and Minjur where new plants will be commissioned.

Once the facilities are in place, over 2,500 tonnes of garbage from the southern zones of the city will be transported to Kuthambakkam.

Another 2,000 tonnes from the northern parts of the city will be taken to Minjur.

The Hindu                       20.02.2013

Distribution of containers for source segregation of waste begins

For a clean town:Municipal chairpersonK. Sathyabama (second right) inaugurating the distribution of containers for source segregationof waste in Udhagamandalam on Tuesday.— Photo: M. Sathyamoorthy.

As part of the solid waste management scheme being implemented by the civic administration in this holiday destination, distribution of containers to felicitate source segregation commenced on Tuesday.

It was inaugurated at the Agraharam here by Udhagamandalam Municipal chairperson K. Sathyabhama.

Municipal Commissioner K. Sivakumar said that the Integrated Urban Development Mission-funded scheme was being implemented in a phased manner since 2011-12.

As segregation at source was a vital component of the scheme, it had been proposed to provide all the 22,000 assessed houses in the municipality with containers to dump separately biodegradable and non- biodegradable waste materials.

Expressing the hope that people would extend their cooperation to the civic authorities, he said that the garbage would be removed to the dump yard at Theetukkal on the outskirts of the town. The biodegradable materials would be used for producing manure. Initially, the containers would be distributed in areas such as Agraharam, Green Fields and Commercial road which are located close to the main Kodappamund channel that runs through the town. It would strengthen the Ooty lake conservation efforts. All the 36 wards would be covered within a month, he said.