A Rs. 12.34-crore solid and resource management project was launched at 14 panchayats in Coimbatore district on Sunday with the objective of converting garbage into resource that can benefit the society.
As part of this initiative, 28 battery-operated garbage-carrying vehicles worth Rs. 24.60 lakh were distributed to members of women self-help groups.
The project was part of a Rs. 100-crore initiative announced by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on September 4 this year in the Assembly. In Coimbatore, it is being implemented in nine panchayats of Madukkarai panchayat union, four panchayats of Sulur panchayat union and a panchayat of Periyanaickenpalayam panchayat union.
According to the officials, the project involved three models in which the Government will bear the recurring expenditure, with the non-recurring expenditure being outsourced. Around 25 donors have been roped in for the project.
StudyA three-month study on waste generation was undertaken in these three panchayat unions, each of which roughly had around 10,000 households.
Model one involved generating vermicompost that would be used for rooftop gardening. In the next model, a community kitchen was coming up at Kurudampalayam Panchayat in Perianaickenpalayam Union, where a bio-methanation plant that can process waste and generate fuel will be set up. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre was providing the technology for this plant, which will be run by the local body.
In the third model to be implemented in Madukkarai block, a power plant will established to either supply electricity for street lights or to some industry in the area. It would be run by a federation comprising of labourers.
The women SHG members will collect the waste from households on a daily basis. Primary source segregation of waste into organic and inorganic material will be done at this stage itself. Again at the collection point, the waste would be segregated once again.
A senior government official said that these projects were intended to be self-sustaining within one year till which the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) would provide support.
Agriculture Minister S. Damodaran launched the programme in the presence of Deputy Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Pollachi V. Jayaraman, District Collector Archana Patnaik and DRDA Additional Director Tha. Murugan.
