The residents of Lalur have begun a sensitisation campaign in the city to create awareness of how individuals and organisations can actively involve in waste management programmes.
Led by the Lalur Malineekarana Virudha Samara Samithi and the Samara Sahaya Samithi, the campaign highlighted 10 suggestions to find a sustainable solution to the problems of Lalur, City Corporation's garbage dumping site.
The suggestions included decentralisation of waste management, segregation of waste at the source, removal of accumulated waste before the onset of monsoon and setting up of biogas plants and waste treatment units in all Corporation divisions.
Samara Samithi chairman T.K. Vasu said that the objective of the campaign was to make the public realise that each garbage bag they threw on the street corner added to the woes of Lalur.
“Waste management is a universal issue. The use-and-throw culture has turned cities and suburbs into huge dump yards. People have to desist from using environmentally hazardous disposable materials,” he said.
He said that waste management was the collective responsibility of a society. “Those who generate waste have the responsibility to process it. Lalur has been forced to bear the garbage burden of the entire city. We have been victims of numerous epidemics brought with tonnes of garbage.”
The campaign also demanded to constitute people's monitoring committees to ensure efficiency and transparency in waste management projects. It demanded a project to turn Lalur a garbage-free area.
The Samara Samithi condemned the City Corporation budget saying it lacked sincere proposals to solve the waste management problem. The three-day campaign will cover all divisions of the City Corporation. Public meetings will be part of it.
