Corporation asks traders to segregate and handover plastics waste

To prevent plastics waste from going to the bins, the Corporation has asked owners of commercial establishments to handover the same to conservancy workers. Photo: K. Ananthan

Close on the heels of its initiative to have waste segregated from residents and owners of commercial establishments in Ward 23 (R.S. Puram), the Coimbatore Corporation has moved a step ahead – it has now asked owners of all commercial establishments across the city to segregate waste.

According to sources in the Corporation, the civic body has started sending notices to owners of all commercial establishments stating that soon after the receipt of the notice, they will have to segregate waste generated from their premises into wet (degradable) and dry (non-degradable) waste and hand over the segregated wastes to the Corporation conservancy workers.

They will have to particularly take care of the plastic waste, which will have to be handed over to the conservancy workers.

The sources say the zonal sanitary officers of the five zones have been instructed to ask the sanitary inspectors to handover the notices to the owners of the commercial establishments in their wards. The sanitary inspectors will collect signatures at the time of handing over notices.

As of Tuesday, the Corporation officials have issued notices to nearly 70 per cent of the commercial establishments in the city.

They will complete the task in the next two days to take up surprise checks in the mornings.

To those establishments that fail to follow the instructions, the Corporation has warned that it will not hesitate to initiate legal action in courts, or lock and seal premises, or severe water and underground drainage connections.

The sources say that the Corporation decided to ask owners of commercial establishments to segregate waste because the recent initiatives have yielded good results in that the quantity of plastic waste collected from each of the five zones has touched a minimum of a tonne a day.

To that extent the quantity of plastic waste that reaches the Vellalore dump yard has gone down. And this has made it easier for the Corporation to process the wet, biodegradable waste.

The sources add that a few more initiatives in waste management can be expected in the next few days.