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— Photo: Vipinchandran

PERMANENT SOLUTION: Machinery installed at the Brahmapuram plant.

Many residents of the city hope that once a scientific system for collection and processing of waste is put in place, the stinking heaps of garbage piled up along the roads will become a thing of past.

They, especially apartment dwellers, hope to breathe easy as far as domestic waste management is concerned.

The coming weeks are considered crucial for the plant as most of the remaining works are expected to be completed during this period, says V.S. Sunilkumar, project engineer of the FACT Engineering and Design Organisation, consultant for the plant.

The treatment plant, considered the heart of the complex, is spread over 90,384 sq ft. Work on internal roads of the plant will be over in two weeks.

Cables will be drawn from an 11-kV line to the plant this week. Internal wiring work is in the last stage, Mr. Sunilkumar says.

Mobile material handling equipment, six front-end loaders and one tractor have arrived on the site. Machinery for compost-processing and waste-screening has also started arriving.

Timely completion and efficient and optimum use of the plant are of utmost importance to the civic body. Once the plant is commissioned, no excuses can be made as far as scientific waste processing is concerned.

As the treatment plant is nearing completion, the Corporation authorities are working overtime to put in place a system for ensuring smooth segregation and transport of waste.

The Corporation will buy sophisticated, covered vehicles for transporting garbage from the city to the plant. Equipment for collection and transportation of waste, such as wheelbarrows, will be purchased. The tenders for the purchases have been floated, says Mini Antony, Corporation Secretary. Equipment estimated at Rs. 11 crore will be bought with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank, she adds.

The civic body, these days, is actively trying to promote the culture of segregation of waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable parts at the household level.

For promoting segregation of waste at household level, the Corporation has distributed 56,000 pairs of buckets to the residents. Orders have been placed for another 1.9 lakh pairs. The buckets will likely be distributed in April, Ms. Antony says.

The civic body has deputed trained personnel to all wards for assisting the councillors for spreading the message of segregated collection of waste and carrying out the ground work.

The residents’ associations have a major role in ensuring that that waste is segregated at the household level so that not much effort will have to be made at the plant level to get that done, she adds.

Apartment owners can make local arrangements for collecting the waste from the individual units. The segregated waste thus collected will be collected by the Corporation at their gates, she adds.

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