The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Response still lukewarm

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 26, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Response still lukewarm

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, NOV. 25. The Coimbatore Corporation today revived its mass cleaning programme in an attempt at ridding the city of garbage and slush. Even as the civic body felt that the revival would provide a solution to the problem of accumulating garbage, the city received the move with lukewarm response. As the programme carried out a couple of years ago did not yield much results, expectations among the public were not high now.

The Collector, S. Kosalaraman, launched the programme near the Police Quarters on Avanashi Road today in the presence of the Mayor, T. Malaravan, and the Corporation Commissioner, Anil Meshram.

The Corporation said 70 sanitary workers were involved in cleaning the stretch taken up between the Police Quarters at the Uppilipalayam signal and Life Insurance Corporation office. Four lorries were used to remove garbage to disposal sites and two excavator-cum-loaders to remove debris dumped along the road.

The stretch of Avanashi Road within the Corporation limits, up to PSG College of Arts and Science, would be covered in four to five days using the same number of workers and equipment.

The programme would cover all main roads in the city but would also rush workers to interior areas where there was abnormally high accumulation of waste. It would not be carried out on Sundays.

Select areas

The Mayor said select areas would be covered while efforts were on to evolve a solid waste management project for the entire city. With the State Government keen on such a project for the entire State, the Corporation was seriously pursuing one that would involve segregation of waste at source as a key component, he said.

`Not a temporary arrangement'

Official sources in the Corporation clarified that the programme was not a temporary arrangement to be carried out until a comprehensive project was implemented.

Even as door-to-door collection of segregated waste would be done when the proposed scheme was implemented, the programme would continue to focus on removing litter along roads and in public places where congregation of a large number of people resulted in littering.

The revived programme would also remove blocks in storm water drains that caused health hazards and turned the areas around into an eyesore. With the Corporation unable to find a way to end dumping of debris along roads, pedestrian pavements and also into storm water drains, the programme would also engage the sanitary workers in removing them.

Amid scepticism that the programme could be sustained, the Corporation indicated that this time the civic body would keep it going, especially in the wake of a spate of complaints that no part of the city was clean.

Cooperation sought

The Mayor sought the cooperation of the people in sustaining the programme and assured that every effort would be taken to keep the city clean. Sources said that the Corporation was examining various options for a comprehensive waste management programme for the entire city.

One of the options was privatisation and it would involve a garbage collection fee. Chances were that very soon certain proposals might be brought in the Council for its approval, they said.

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