The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Corporation to collect only segregated garbage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Corporation to collect only segregated garbage

By Karthik Subramanian

CHENNAI, NOV. 16. The Chennai Corporation is keen on making garbage clearance everyone's business.

By December first week, the civic agency will collect only segregated garbage — separated into organic and inorganic components — from all households. It will not collect mixed garbage and will impose administrative charges for removal in such cases.

Over the next two weeks, the Corporation will hold door-to-door campaigns involving councillors and teachers of civic agency schools throughout the city. In Zones VI, VIII and IX, where the private operator CES Onyx is involved in conservancy operations, the Corporation will appeal to residents to set aside recyclable waste — including plastics and rubber — and hand it over to its staff.

The Commissioner, M.P. Vijayakumar, told The Hindu that awareness was generated, through advertisements and radio programmes, of the need for segregating garbage. "Now we plan to push ahead with the implementation."

Composting yards

The organic components would be composted at aerobic composting bins, most of which were set up in open space reservation areas, burial grounds, garbage transfer stations and dumping grounds. Some of the composting yards were already functioning such as the one at the Basin Bridge garbage transfer station.

"Conservancy workers will remove inorganic waste including plastic and other recyclable waste. It is up to them to recycle whatever they can and send the rest to the garbage yard. They can keep the money. Some of them are already doing it stealthily but there will be no necessity to do in such a manner in the near-future," Mr. Vijayakumar said.

Studies show that of 3,500 tonnes of mixed waste reaching the dumping ground everyday, over 1,200 tonnes is organic which can be composted.

The Corporation previously considered ways of reducing the garbage at the dumping grounds, especially the setting up of a gasification-based waste-to-electricity plant at Perungudi. Environment groups opposed the proposal, saying burning of inorganic waste would lead to emission of toxins. The project has not taken off so far.

Panel mandate

A Supreme Court-constituted committee has mandated segregation of waste in all municipal bodies for "Solid Waste Management in Class I." While most city corporations in the country have not implemented it, some of the smaller towns in Tamil Nadu — Vellore, for example — have effectively implemented source segregation of garbage, thanks to the involvement of local welfare associations such as Exnora International.

The Chennai Corporation wants residents' welfare associations to help in implementing the scheme. There is also the rider that it will not remove mixed waste.

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