The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Vermi-compost plant hailed as a role model

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 26, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Vermi-compost plant hailed as a role model

Staff Reporter

Focus on sustainable solid waste management

CHENNAI: The community-backed compost plant set up at Pammal Municipality, a city suburb, has been hailed as a role model for all small local bodies at a workshop on "municipal solid waste management" organised in the city on Saturday.

The project jointly implemented by the municipality with non-governmental organisation Exnora International best demonstrated the principles outlined in the Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules, 2000, speakers at the workshop organised by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) said. Apart from encouraging residents to segregate waste into organic and inorganic components, the project has also successfully composted biodegradables.

Compulsory segregation

Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board chairman Surjit K. Chaudhary said Pammal example could be replicated in other small municipalities with minor changes. Municipal Commissioners felt that the pollution control board could be more stringent on defaulting manufacturers as punitive measures over plastic littering faced opposition from political parties.

Satya Narayanan of Exnora International, who made a presentation on "source segregation of waste," offered to take up a composting project in coordination with Chennai Corporation.

"The civic agency is now planning for a centralised compost plant whereas decentralised composting can be taken up easily. The land required for each ward will be only 150 feet by 150 feet." Representatives from Aditya Birla Group and Associated Cement Companies presented their proposals for setting up of "refuse-derived fuel" companies that would make high-calorific pellets out of garbage and use them in cement manufacturing process.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail