The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Garbage segregation drive to be stepped up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 13, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Garbage segregation drive to be stepped up

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, NOV. 12. The Chennai Corporation has decided to intensify the campaign for source segregation of garbage in north Chennai over the next two weeks.

Senior officials, elected representatives from Tondiarpet zone and teachers of the Corporation-run schools have decided to take up door-to-door campaigning for segregation of waste into its organic and inorganic components after Deepavali.

The Corporation Commissioner, M. P. Vijayakumar, said Chennai had done better than other cities, including Bangalore and Hyderabad, in door-to-door collection of garbage. The civic agency has reported that it had covered more than 95 per cent of city's households under the scheme.

Mr. Vijayakumar attributed the success to the conservancy workers and local engineers. "In several other cities, success in door-to-door clearance has been due to private contractors," he added.

Students of Corporation schools will also be roped in for the campaign, which will include awareness walks, distribution of pamphlets and demonstrations.

Composting units

The officials sought the help of councillors and teachers to take the next step: effective disposal. The civic agency is studying composting units in Karnataka and the project proposals will be tabled in the Corporation council soon.

According to officials, vermicomposting and anaerobic composting plants are the options being considered.

Councillors from the Tondiarpet zone said people were happy with the door-to-door clearance. P.S.S. Dhanushkodi (BJP), ward 6 councillor, said: "There was initially some resistance from some to the door-to-door collection. Some residents even said throwing garbage on the roads was their right. But now the situation changed. We hope the same will happen now with the source segregation drive."

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