From next week, residents of all the Municipalities in the Chengalpet-Kancheepuram region cannot deny payment of service charges for garbage collection. These municipalities have integrated payment of service charges for garbage collection with payment of property tax. However, in the case of commercial establishments, municipality officials would make a visit to make the monthly collections.
This is being done as the parameters for calculation of service charges for commercial establishments are different from those set for apartment complexes and individual houses, where the calculation is made, taking the size of the property into consideration. In the case of commercial establishments, service charges are calculated based on the volume of waste generation as well the size of the the building.
By this move, these municipalities have enforced the rules under the Solid Waste Management By-Laws, 2016, framed in accordance with the Tamil Nadu district Municipalities Act 1920.
With this rule in place, residents have only two choices – either drop the segregated waste in semi-underground bins, which have been placed in the 10 wards of Tambaram Municipality, or hand it over to the garbage collectors. In other areas where the semi-underground bins have not been installed, residents have to hand over the segregated garbage to the conservancy staff.
From mid-July, the conservancy staff have been collecting garbage from door to door, all days of the week.
Wet waste would be collected six days in a week and non-biodegradable waste and hazardous waste only on Wednesdays. On July 19 – the first Wednesday after the system was introduced – more than 185 workers were involved in the process and more than 1,300 kg of dry waste was collected.
In the weeks that followed, the number of workers involved in the process increased gradually and the quantity of dry waste that was collected also increased. Last week alone, more than 230 workers were involved in process of segregating waste and they collected over 16 tonnes of dry waste.
Street vendors are advised to place at least two bins for the two types of waste generated while running their businesses. Hotels, eateries and other bulk generators of waste must pay “trade refuse” charges.
One of the senior officials of the Tambaram Municipality says, “Once in a fortnight, the Municipality officials conduct surprise checks at strategic locations which have a huge number of commercial establishments and apartment complexes. For this purpose, in addition to the existing 400 staff, including conservancy workers, 65 animators and 14 supervisors have been appointed. Besides carrying out surprise checks, the animators and supervisors will also create awareness among the public about the segregation of waste. Though these animators and supervisors have already been trained, they will go through a special one-week training, which begins on October 3.”
These municipalities will also levy spot fines for throwing garbage on the road. “A fine of Rs.100 for throwing garbage and a fine of Rs.200 for burning garbage will be collected. However, the practice of collecting fines is expected to be started three months from now. We feel that before fines are collected, people have to be informed about it. So far, our people are used to throwing garbage on the road. It’s a well-entrenched habit and it cannot be dealt with in a day. Every week, animators and supervisors meet residents at a park and educate them about waste segregation and cleanliness. Only after these regular meetings and awareness programmes would penalties be imposed," the official added.
