The Hindu         07.12.2011

Clear-cut strategy for safe garbage disposal still elusive

Clear-cut strategy or mechanism for safe and environment friendly disposal of garbage seems to remain an unachievable goal for local bodies in Kancheepuram district despite implementation / promotion of different plans during the last decade.

However, some of the civic bodies such as Tiruporur Town Panchayat and Thiruvidanthai Village Panchayat in Tiruporur Panchayat Union have caught the attention of decision makers by their successful implementation of solid waste management (SWM) programme during the last quarter of the previous decade.

While the Tiruporur Town Panchayat had set itself as an example to other small civic bodies by successfully running a vermi-compost facility in its backyard, the SWM programme was a thumping success at Thiruvidanthai as the major expenditure in the form of monthly salary to those employed in the exercise was taken care of by third parties.

Segregation at source

The concept of segregation of garbage at source by providing colour bins to households was tried in vain in 2006-07 and in subsequent fiscals by several civic bodies. Non-governmental organisations were roped in to meet out one-time expense of procuring the bins, two each for every household and for purchase of twin compartment tri-cycles for collecting the segregated waste at some civic bodies.

Later, another strategy of involving or rather entrusting the work of collection and disposal of garbage in specific wards / village panchayats with the women self-help groups / federations or to the NGOs or private companies which claimed expertise in SWM was also attempted.

While this particular strategy turned successful in some of the civic bodies on the southern outskirts of Chennai and in rural areas where the NGOs managed to elicit good response from public, in several local bodies it met the same fate of segregation of waste at source exercise.

Further, ambitious projects of setting up integrated CCYs for civic bodies functioning on the southern outskirts of Chennai such as the Venkatamangalam and Sholinganallur CCY projects were also conceived.

While the CCY project for Tambaram, Pallavaram and Alandur Municipalities at Venkatamangalam is yet to become a reality, the CCY for Pammal and Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam Municipalities, 13 town panchayats and 30 village panchayats received stiff opposition from residents of Sholinganallur at the beginning itself.

The fate of Sholinganallur proposal now hangs in balance as several civic bodies listed as beneficiaries of this project were now become part of the Greater Chennai Corporation, sources pointed out.

Thus with the negative results of implementing SWM proposals outweighing the expected positive outcome, it seems that several civic bodies have turned back to the conventional method of disposing garbage - by way of dumping them in open places, near water bodies or catchment areas or using them as landfills or by simply burning them out in open like in the newly annexed area of Kancheepuram Municipality and in Nandivaram-Guduvancheri.

The Hindu                    30.09.2011

Corporation fails to renew PCB authorisation

Civic body warned of legal action over delay

The State Pollution Control Board has pulled up the Kochi Corporation for not renewing the authorisation under the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules for collection, segregation, transportation and suitable disposal of municipal waste.

The authorisation given by the board had expired more than a year ago.

Reliable sources in the board said that the civic body's delay made all its waste disposal operations ‘illegal and in violation of the municipal solid waste rules.' The corporation is likely to face legal action, as it had not initiated any steps to renew the authorisation despite receiving at least three reminders from the board.

According to the Municipal Solid Waste Rules, the municipal authority or an operator of a facility shall make an application in Form-I for grant of authorisation for setting up waste processing and disposal facility, including landfills, from the State board.

Senior board officials said that the corporation should have organised house-to-house collection of municipal solid waste through community bin (central bin) or house-to-house collection or collection on regular pre-informed timings, as per the provisions included under the municipal solid waste rules.

The civic body should also devise collection of waste from slums and squatter areas or localities, including hotels, restaurants, office complexes and commercial areas. Waste from slaughter houses, meat and fish markets, fruits and vegetable markets, which are biodegradable in nature, should be managed scientifically.

Biodegradable waste

The corporation should introduce storage facilities by taking into account quantities of waste generation in a given area and the population densities in each region. Steps need to be taken to ensure that the storage facility is accessible to the users. The biodegradable waste should be processed by composting, vermi-composting, anaerobic digestion or any other appropriate biological processing for stabilisation of wastes.

Board sources said that the corporation had failed to adhere to the rules thanks to the breakdown in the collection, storage and disposal of solid-waste mechanism, especially after the Brahmapuram solid-waste treatment plant became defunct.

Preliminary studies made by the board found that the civic body had failed miserably to tackle the solid-waste menace properly.

It is learnt that the board will soon write to the corporation asking why legal action should not be taken against it for not renewing the authorisation under the municipal solid-waste management rules.

Keywords: Kochi Corporation