Coimbatore Corporation plans to open more MCCs to strengthen solid waste management

Micro compost centres that are ready but have not been commissioned will soon function as the Coimbatore Corporation plans to strengthen solid waste management.

Coimbatore Corporation will soon commission five more micro compost centres (MCCs) to strengthen solid waste management in the city.

The Corporation, as per Commissioner P. Kumaravel Pandian’s instruction, will start using the compost centres in Kavundampalayam dump yard, MGR wholesale vegetable market, Bharathi Park Road and two more to take the total number of compost centres in use to eight.

The Corporation had planned 69 MCCs across the city to decentralise waste collection – the plan was to take to the centres the wet, organic waste that conservancy workers collected from each centre’s neighbourhood to turn those to compost.

This, the Corporation said, would help it reduce the quantity of waste taken to the dump yard in Vellalore, save money on vehicles and fuel and force workers and people to strictly comply with segregated waste management.

But the Corporation could not complete construction of many of the MCCs. It had told the State Level Monitoring Committee of the National Green Tribunal for Solid Waste Management in Tamil Nadu in January this year that it would commission at least 12 MCCs by March 31.

The Corporation failed to stick to the deadline because of the COVID-19 induced lockdown, said sources, adding that now the plan was to open the five centres and ensure that in each of the five centres’ neighbourhood the civic body strengthened door-to-door segregated waste collection.

As a part of this strengthening drive, the Corporation had planned to buy more push carts, take early delivery of the small vehicles used for door-to-door collection and train conservancy workers.

Commissioner Mr. Pandian said the Corporation would train workers on the importance of segregated waste collection and how they could effectively enforce segregated collection from households.

As for the rest of the MCCs that were under various stages of construction, the sources said the Commissioner had instructed engineers to ensure early completion of work.

The Corporation’s move comes at a time when the Swachh Sarvekshan survey is only three months away.