The Hindu        21.01.2015  

Panchayats reap rich reward through waste management

The solid waste management scheme rolled out by the
State government has started making impact in all the 11 town panchayats
in Karur district.

The scheme, which aimed at
helping local bodies generate income from garbage, besides ensuring
clean environment, was started about 10 months back in town panchayats,
including Pallapatti, Puliyur, Marudhur, Punjai Pugalur, Aravakurichi,
and Krishnarayapuram. The initial emphasis was on setting up
infrastructure for processing and segregating solid waste into
degradable and non-degradable waste. Considerable time was spent in
creating awareness on the scheme among the residents.

After
the first few months, the town panchayats have begun segregating waste,
and now, almost all the 11 panchayats have been generating income by
selling the products sourced from waste. Though a few town panchayats
are lagging behind, a healthy competition has emerged among the
panchayats to emerge as the best performer.

“A system
has been established in town panchayats and it has come to stay. We see
a considerable improvement in garbage collection and disposal,”
S.Jayandhi, Collector, told
The Hindu
after inspecting some of the town panchayats recently.

Production
of manure and vermicompost and production of biogas from food waste are
among some of the projects being implemented by the town panchayats.

While
most of them have got into the business of manure and vermicompost
production and sales, the Puliyur town panchayat has gone a step ahead
by producing biogas from waste.

It has set up a unit
to produce biogas by making use of the availability of high volume of
poultry, aquatic and mutton waste. It is marketing the gas to the
households. Similarly, it has also set up a duck rearing farm by using
the food waste available in the area.

“Production of
biogas is an important initiative. It shows that we can fully utilise
the food waste to produce fuel. The Puliyur town panchayat has been
asked to expand the project,” Ms.Jayandhi said.

She
added that 26.38 tonnes of garbage has been collected and segregated
since the implementation of the scheme in the 11 town panchayats. About
66,600 kilograms of manure had been produced. Of this, about 3,300 kg
was sold to farmers at a cost of Rs.3 a kg.