The City Corporation is preparing to take up a pilot project for household-level solid waste management to reduce the quantum of garbage reaching the treatment plant at Vilappilsala. The participatory project seeks to treat solid waste at source by installing mini waste-processing plants on the premises of houses. The Corporation is planning to select around 2,500 houses for the implementation of the pilot phase of the project. There will be three options for waste processing — vermicomposting, natural composting and biogas plant. "In the initial phase, biogas plants will be set up at SMV School and the Government Hospital, Peroorkada, with the support from the Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT). Later, this will be extended to select households within the Corporation limits," Deputy Mayor V. Jayaprakash said here. The project, to be implemented in the first phase of the People's Plan campaign of the Corporation for the year 2009-10, will be primarily funded under the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP), Mr. Jayaprakash said. The household-level units will get a Corporation subsidy of up to 50 percent. The non-biodegradable waste will be collected by sanitation workers. Corporation Health Officer D. Sreekumar said Kudumbasree sanitation workers would be deployed for maintaining the bio-degradation plants in the select households. "Although the Corporation had attempted source- level waste management in some wards earlier, it was found that the residents were not very keen to maintain the units. So we have decided to deploy Kudumbasree sanitation workers for the purpose," Dr. Sreekumar said. This would also help in retaining the jobs of Kudumbasree workers, he said. The Corporation was now in the process of identifying households willing to participate in the pilot project, Dr. Sreekumar said. "Some residents' associations in the Muttada ward have expressed their willingness. Once the households are identified it will require some ground work before the processing units are set up," he said. The pilot project is estimated to cost around Rs.20 lakh. Meanwhile, the Corporation is going ahead with a project to modernise and enhance the capacity of the treatment plant at Vilappilsala.
The Hindu, 6th April 2009
1 comment:
It is a nice idea at last to treat the waste in the decentralised manner. Our people are consistant in throwing waste to certain particular areas in the public places. So why not set up some waste management kiosks in such convenient locations and ask people to seggregate their waste and handover to the kiosk managed by sanitation workers/agencies, where the recyclable things can be sold to agencies using it and generate fund while the degradable wastes can be used for energy generation and use for lighting street lights etc or use a portion for composting and compost sold togarden farming .. .for collection of wastes from homes trained agents can be used collecting fees etc.
It is hightime that local bodies find out appropriate ways to manage waste more wisely and save land and water
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