The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Residents take to waste management

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Residents take to waste management

By K.V. Prasad

COIMBATORE, SEPT.13. In what is seen as a model for the rest of the city, residents of Kamadhenu Nagar at Avarampalayam in the city have begun a waste management programme with source segregation and composting as its vital components.

Source segregation is done in more than 100 houses and the biodegradable waste is taken to a ground nearby for composting into manure. The non-biodegradable waste is stored and handed over to the Corporation's conservancy workers once in three days.

Community composting

For long, the civic body and waste management experts have been stressing community composting, wherein residents form an association, collect the bio-degradable waste, identify a site in their area for composting and convert the waste into manure for their gardens. If the volume of manure exceeds local requirement, it will fetch revenue to sustain the project.

The municipalities in Tirupur, Udumalpet, Pollachi and Mettupalayam have introduced similar projects. The ongoing effort in the city is yet another venture taken up by residents. A couple of such efforts had been taken up a few years ago but could not be sustained owing to lack of public support. Local composting was resented owing to fears over health hazards from manure pits. Even as it is into the process of evolving a comprehensive waste management programme for the entire city, the Corporation feels that if people take up conversion of biodegradable waste into manure, the civic body can use its resources more on disposing of non-biodegradable waste.

Options under study

The Corporation recently constituted a Solid Waste Management Committee with the Deputy Mayor, K. Raghupathy, as chairman to draw up an elaborate plan for waste management. The committee was formed on the heels of the visit of a team led by him to Thiruvananthapuram to study a programme. The Corporation has also begun exploring various options such as shift timings of conservancy workers for prompt removal of garbage.

Siruthuli, a public initiative to desilt tanks and canals for recharging ground water, has also offered to take up waste management. It plans to take up door-to-door collection and sensitise people on the need for segregation at source.

Though waste-to-energy remains an ambitious option with the civic body, incompatible weather conditions (for technology used in Scandinavian countries) in Coimbatore has put it on hold. Instead, a cautious approach through waste-to-manure option is preferred.

Appreciating the Kamadhenu Nagar model, Mr. Raghupathy said such efforts would go on to strengthen the Corporation's hands in ridding the city of garbage. "On our part, we want to provide more push carts and other equipment so that garbage disposal is prompt. Eliminating delay in clearance owing to equipment shortage is vital to the success of the programme." As for the residents' project, he said even the reserved sites of the civic body could be used for composting.

Asked on the progress the committee has made so far, he said inspection of existing equipment and pushcarts was on. Moves are on to procure fibre glass containers to collect segregated waste, as they are found to be durable, fire-proof and of light weight.

On the technology for composting, he said the civic body would soon seek proposals from firms across the country. One of the options being considered was a project on a build-operate and transfer basis by private parties, he said. The details would be worked out soon.

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