The Hindu 13.11.2013
Waste segregation programme gains momentum
On Tuesday morning, a few conservancy workers and
residents of R.S. Puram — Ward 23 — will receive certificates of
appreciation from the Coimbatore Corporation’s top brass. The
appreciation is for a seemingly insignificant work they have done every
morning in the past few days: segregation of waste. Sources in the
Coimbatore Corporation say the residents chosen have done exceedingly
well in segregating the waste and handing it over to the conservancy
workers. And the workers identified have collected the maximum plastics
waste.
The appreciation is part of the Corporation’s
‘Shunya’ zero waste management project, which it implemented in
association with the Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore
(RAAC), Siruthuli, ICLEI, an NGO, and a few other organisations.
The
sources said that since the start of the programme on October 2, the
conservancy workers had collected nearly three tonnes of plastics and
recyclable waste. The workers take the waste to the Corporation’s ward
office in the area, where the Corporation officials weigh the same,
record the weight of waste collected by each worker and pass on the
information to the ITC WOW programme managers, who deposit money —
calculated at Rs. 3 a kg given — into the workers’ bank account.
R.
Raveendran, Honorary Secretary, RAAC, said that a few workers have
earned up to Rs. 1,000 in the recent past because of their enthusiastic
participation in the programme.
B. Nagaraj, a
conservancy worker, said that since the start of the programme he had
been picking up all the plastics and recyclable waste that he found in
his area of operation. Though satisfactory, their workload had
increased, said A. Murugan, another worker. The work that earlier got
over at 10 a.m. now extended up to noon and sometimes even beyond, for
they would have to further segregate the dry waste collected.
The
residents said they were only happy to segregate the waste. It was not a
difficult job at all — all that the residents had to do was dump them
into two different containers, said Manjula Shankla, a resident of
Bashyakaralu Road.
She added that she was happy that the Corporation had initiated the programme.
