February 1 marked the end of a century of dumping garbage at Sadupperi.
Collector S.A. Raman, in a press release, said that garbage collected from Vellore was dumped in a 7.89 acre yard at Sadupperi for more than 100 years. After the Vellore Municipality was upgraded into a Corporation in 2008, nearly 200 tonnes of waste collected from the 60 wards continued to be dumped at Sadupperi.
It was in September 2015 that residents of Sadupperi started a series of protests against dumping waste in the area. They approached the Southern Bench of National Green Tribunal seeking a ban on dumping garbage at Sadupperi
Following this, the tribunal passed an order on November 21, 2016 that Vellore Corporation should stop dumping waste at Sadupperi.
The Vellore Corporation started a small compost centre in Gandhi Nagar. Three tonnes of waste collected from ward nine and 12 were segregated at this centre. Composting of biodegradable waste was taken up, while non-biodegradable waste was recycled.
With the success of this compost centre, 35 more micro compost centres were started. As of now, 36 centres are functioning in Vellore Corporation areas, and waste collected in the respective areas was segregated and composting was taken up.
These centres were handling 155 tonnes of the total 200 tonnes of waste collected from the 60 wards. Six compost centres were planned for scientific disposal of 30 tonnes of the remaining waste. Of this, two have become functional, the release said.
Currently, 38 compost centres were handling nearly 165 tonnes of garbage.
Mr. Raman said there are plans to set up another four micro compost centres in a week. When these become operational, it can take up scientific disposal of the remaining 20 metric tonnes of waste.
With these measures put in place, dumping of garbage at Sadupperi has been stopped from February 1, he said, adding that a solution has been found for a 100-year-old problem faced by the Sadupperi residents.
Mr. Raman urged residents, commercial establishments in Vellore Corporation to segregate garbage into biodegradable and non-biodegradable in their respective premises. The public have been asked to extend their cooperation.
