Local businesses and residents in Coonoor will have no excuses to illegally dump their waste into the Coonoor River or in surrounding forest areas with the opening of a garbage collection kiosk in the town recently.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Coonoor Municipality and local NGO, Clean Coonoor, aims at eliminating illegal dumping of waste, with the collection center remaining open throughout the day where residents and businesses can hand over their waste at their convenience.
Samantha Iyanna, Managing Trustee of Clean Coonoor, told The Hindu many residents dumped household waste in forests, streams and secluded areas as they were not at home when the collection vehicles from the municipality visited their localities. “With the opening of the kiosk, we hope that people will hand over the waste at the kiosk, without dumping it illegally,” said Ms. Iyanna.
Clean Coonoor estimates that around one tonne of waste, or around 18 per cent of the average amount of waste produced in the town each day gets disposed by residents in open dumps. “Around 20 per cent of this dry waste comprises plastic, and most of it is washed into the nearest watercourse. Some of it gets entangled around roots of trees, shrubs and other vegetation,” said P.J. Vasanthan, a trustee from Clean Coonoor.
Cleanups done by the NGO revealed that plastic from more than 15 years ago still remained in the water bodies located around the town, most notably along the Coonoor River, which drained into Bhavani River further downstream. The organisation also estimated that around 75-100 tonnes of plastic and other waste could have accumulated along the 5-km course of the Coonoor River.
It is hoped that the garbage collection kiosk will help at least reduce the amount of waste being dumped into the river. The Coonoor Municipality, headed by Commissioner T. Krishnamurthi will also oversee the working of the kiosk.
There were plans to establish six more such kiosks in important locations with high tourist footfall and also in areas where there was reluctance from residents to segregate and properly hand over their waste to the municipality. The kiosks would come up shortly around Sims Park, Gandhipetta, Krishnapuram and Kannimariamman Kovil, among other places, officials said.
The kiosk will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with plans to extend the working hours till 8 p.m. in the coming months..
