Marriage halls, hotels, community centres and commercial establishments should handle their solid wastes by creating solid waste management (SWM) infrastructure within their own premises as per the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, P. Karthiyayini, Mayor of Vellore said on Wednesday.
Presiding over the ordinary meeting of the Vellore Corporation Council, Ms. Karthiyayini said that the management of solid wastes is a major problem confronting the Corporation today. Therefore, the Corporation has decided to strictly enforce the rules.
It has asked the marriage halls, hotels and commercial institutions to construct compost sheds within their premises and compost theirs wastes. “No waste should come out of these institutions,” she said. The Mayor also issued a strict instruction to the sanitary workers not to remove the wastes from marriage halls, hotels and commercial institutions which did not pay service tax. Even if they pay the service tax, the Corporation would remove the wastes from the institutions and compost them in the sheds being constructed in different wards only till they establish their own facility within a given time, she said.
The Mayor said that during the session with local body representatives convened by the 5th State Finance Commission at the Collectorate here on Tuesday, the Commission Chairman S. Krishnan lauded the decision of the Corporation to ask commercial institutions to handle their own solid wastes, and promised grant of special funds to the Corporation for its SWM project. She asked councillors to convene a meeting of marriage hall/hotel owners in their wards and convey the message to them. They should ensure the success of the scheme, she said.
Ms. Karthiyayini said that the Corporation was taking steps to obtain sponsors to supply green and red dustbins to the individual houses for collection of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes to ensure source segregation of wastes. Hereafter, the Corporation would confine itself to composting wastes only from the houses. She asked the councillors to cooperate with the Corporation in identifying sites for the ward-wise construction of compost sheds for handling residential wastes.
Janaki Raveendran, Commissioner of the Corporation, said that the Corporation has sent proposals for employment of additional sanitary workers on contract basis to meet the additional workload on account of the implementation of a scientific SWM project in Vellore.
Vasanth Diwakar, City Health Officer, said that notices have been issued to all marriage halls which have defaulted in payment of service tax.
